Author: Stephen Praytor

TASHKENT — Home to almost 30 million people, Uzbekistan is located in central Asia between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. According to the CIA World Factbook, the Uzbekistani people have an urban population rate of 36.4 percent, implying that the nation is mostly a rural one. Uzbekistan, as with most developing nations, requires assistance from the developed world. One organization that is essential to the poor in Uzbekistan is the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). To give a brief overview of USAID and what it does, one must start with its origins. USAID is the leading foreign aid agency that the…

BOLIVIA — Bolivia is a small country in South America, and is home to more than 11 million people. Though full of luscious plant-life and beautiful scenery, many of the citizens face uglier circumstances than those that are not impoverished. If wondering how to help people in Bolivia, there are several ways available especially to the average, everyday individual. WATER FOR PEOPLE Water For People is an organization dedicated to alleviating the life-threatening issue of unsanitary water — whether drinking or for other purposes. The water is especially unsafe in rural areas. By the numbers, only 76 percent of the…

ASHGABAT — Turkmenistan is a small country located in the Middle East. With around 80 percent of the land classified as desert, the population is even smaller than it could be otherwise at about five million people, which is over three million less than New York City. Small nations like Turkmenistan usually end up facing problems that other, larger nations do not encounter. These issues can leave someone wondering how to help people in Turkmenistan, or nations in the same situation. Fortunately, there are several ways to help, ranging from quick and simple actions — such as utilizing your computer…

GABORONE — Botswana, located in the south of Africa, is a nation full of diverse wildlife and beautiful scenery. However, like all impoverished countries, the people of Botswana are subject to a different set of problems than most, problems that greatly affect their livelihoods from the day-to-day. This leaves many wondering how to help people in Botswana; but in order to help, one must first know what those affected by poverty needs help with. That is why the problems of poverty themselves need to be explored first. Though the people of Botswana encounter many different problems in poverty, it is…

GHANA — Located in West Africa, Ghana is home to over 26 million people. Like several other African nations, a significant amount of Ghana’s people live in poverty. This leads to many different problems including the spread of diseases, instability, growth in violence as well as many others. But perhaps the two most severe outcomes of extreme poverty are the lack of water and food — if looking for how to help people in Ghana, this area is worth one’s attention. 1. Water The Ghanaians’ water has thankfully been for the most part improved. This helps to curb the prevalence…

SEATTLE — The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a slum as “a densely populated usually urban area marked by crowding, dirty run-down housing, poverty, and social disorganization.” The example sentence uses the term in reference to the impoverished areas of New York City, but how many people live in slums in the rest of the world? The U.N. Slum Almanac puts the number in writing within the first couple of sentences: around one billion people live in slums worldwide. In other words, one in every eight men, women and children currently live in slums, and that number is growing. Since 1990, over…

HARARE — Zimbabwe is considered by many experts to be one of the nations most severely affected by AIDS in all of sub-Saharan Africa. Among the country’s 13 million people, it is estimated that roughly 15 percent of adults (more than one million people) lived with HIV in 2011. This number alone shows that AIDS in Zimbabwe is a very serious problem. However, though these numbers are particularly high in the AIDS community, they have shown dramatic improvement when compared to Zimbabwe’s past. Between 1996 and 1998, it was estimated that close to 30 percent of adults in Zimbabwe lived…

ADDIS ABBABA — Ethiopia is one of the first nations to come up when charity work in other countries is being discussed. Many are aware that the nation located in the horn of Africa is afflicted with several unfortunate issues. However, most are unsure what exactly these problems are, and what exactly can be done to assist the country’s population. For those uncertain about how to help people in Ethiopia, there are quite a few ways to lend a helping hand. The most important step in solving a problem is knowing what the problem is. Though there are many different…

SEATTLE — The west African nation of Senegal has struggled with universal education, like many other developing nations. A common misconception is that the education system in developing nations is bad and getting worse. However, education in Senegal is experiencing quite the opposite turn. Though Senegal is coming from the lower end in terms of educational numbers, there have been tremendous upticks that seem to suggest that the growing African nation is due for a wealth of improvement. So many may wonder: Where is this educational development coming from? First, the numbers: as of late, the CIA World Factbook puts…

ABUJA, Nigeria — Despite being one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economies, roughly 62 percent of Nigeria’s population still lives in extreme poverty. From disease to famine, from war to environmental issues, Nigeria experiences a host of problems today. Facing devastation of this magnitude leaves many wondering what exactly they can do to assist the afflicted, and what measures are being taken on the grand scale. In exploring how to help people in Nigeria, focus should be directed to what is perhaps the most dire problem facing the poor of Nigeria today: hunger. Nigeria has the third-highest amount of chronic undernutrition…