Helping out in Tondo, Manila (Star R.AGE)

This article is about one of our service projects. The KTJ Global Debates team raised funds for the Philippine Christian Foundation (PCF) that work towards educating children in the Tondo dumpsite and help families to be financially independant. Read on to find out more =D

Here is the official link

Helping  Out in Tondo, Manila

“Eww … ,” exclaimed my school mates in disgust.

The driver has just opened the door of the van and the stench was the first thing that hits us. This is one of the dumpsites in Tondo, which is an hour away from Manila, in the Philippines.

We had arrived at the Philippines Christian Foundation (PCF). This organisation’s mission is to improve the quality of life for poor Filipinos through education and family enhancement, regardless of religion, race, and political boundaries.

Our school, Kolej Tuanku Jaafar, had raised funds in support of this project recently as a part of the “Global Debates” competition, which currently has the participation of more than 90 other schools across the globe.

This scene greets you upon entering the Tondo dumpsite – a truck filled to the brim with garbage for the inhabitants of Tondo to rummage through later during the day.

A few of us had the opportunity to visit Tondo. We were in Manila for the Fobissea Music Festival 2009 which brings passionate singers and musicians from British schools all over South-East Asia together.

The Tondo dumpsite is not hard to describe as the word “dumpsite” is pretty much self-explanatory. There really was rubbish everywhere.

How could people live in such a place like this?

Such is the reality for around 700,000 people living in the area which makes Tondo the world’s most densely populated district.

Moments after arriving we were greeted by a very vibrant Jane Walker, the founder and CEO of the Philippines Christian Foundation. She then brought us on a tour around the place.

“Back in 2002, I came to the Philippines during a sabbatical from work,” she said.

“I was curious about the level of poverty in the Philippines and I came here to investigate.”

She followed two boys to the dumpsite, and seeing the conditions that they were living in, Jane decided to do something about it. After getting approval from the government to use a building near the dumpsite, she raised funds through contacts in Britain and renovated the place.

“In those days, every room was filled with filthy garbage. We were shovelling out the dirt, painting and trying to make it a nicer place for kids to come.”

Jane got the community involved as they were able to tell her what services they need.

Two kids lingering around a shop that seems to be able to repair all your electrical appliances.

So her initial idea of a daycare centre for children eventually evolved into a school.

“In the early days we were using bed-side table for the kids because we did not have much money.”

But over the years this initiative has gained more support and has enabled them PCF to upgrade and improve to the point now that they’re building a new school.

Several engineers have helped to design the new school, a four-storey building made out of container vans. Not only is it cheap, it is environmental friendly, too.

It would have its own kitchen, canteen, clinic, computer room and library. There will even be a roof deck that will be used as a recreation area.

Jane adds, “The best thing about this is that we could take the children out of this building and give them a proper school to study in.”

So far the children have lost 36 teaching days due to floods. Well, dumpsites don’t have proper drainage systems and it floods every time it rains.

“The water comes out through the ground and it floods for kilometers. You can even see it squirting out from the ground. The roof is okay though despite the occasional problems with rusty roofs,” she explains.

Currently, most of the children attending the school established by PCF have been rescued from child labour. Often the only hot meals that they will receive is at school – breakfast and lunch.

Kids taking a break after a long day transporting charcoal on this makeshift trishaw.

As an incentive, PCF gives the children rice for attending school. Besides that, the children get canned food, too, for academic excellence. This motivates the children to be serious in their studies.

PCF had their very first graduate last year, who came back to serve as a teacher. They also have 26 students who are on a ballet scholarship with Ballet Manila. One of them is being trained for an international competition.

Some have joined football teams and went on to win international competitions.

“We’ve got many talented children as they pour all their heart and soul into what they do,” Jane shared.

One of the traits that set PCF apart from other organisations is their active involvement in conserving the environment. PCF has a training centre which equips adults with the skills to make jewellery and accessories out of waste products like magazines, cans, and toothpaste tubes. “We have a special product called the ‘sexy bag’,” says Lynie A. Pispisano, who is the Volunteer and Special Project Coordinator of PCF.

“It is made from toothpaste tubes, which is very strong material. This makes the bags very durable hence the name.”

The programme ensures that families earn money above the minimum wage.

This year’s Global Debates presented us with the topic “When it cannot do both, the UN should prioritise poverty reduction over combating climate change.”

I can’t help but reflect on what I’ve learnt from my experience in Tondo.

What is more important? Poverty reduction or combating climate change? These are two big problems that plague the existence of the human race. Some people argue that the issue regarding climate change should be given priority as it would affect the whole world.

A view of the new school from the outside. The school is made out of recycled container vans, which makes it cheap and environmental friendly.

Others would object and stress that poverty is happening right now and people are dying because they could not afford to live. Therefore, poverty reduction should hold a higher priority.

The Philippines Christian Foundation proves that creative measure could be taken to combat climate change without neglecting the need of those stricken by poverty.

Another thing that caught my attention was the way these people live their live, full of optimism.

We are talking about people who are uncertain about their next meal. Yet they can still smile and welcome me into their community with open arms.

The community is very close knit at it is evident by the group of children playing among the rubbish. I saw a teenager transporting charcoal on a makeshift trishaw with his little brother assisting him by pushing from behind.

Our happiness is not determined by how much we have. A man who has nothing can be happier than a man who has everything. These things lingered in my mind as I flew back to Malaysia later that day, my shoes still dirty from the muddy ground of Tondo.

Perhaps what we all need in life is a little bit of what the people in Tondo have – optimism.

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*A shout-out to the R.AGE team! Thanks for publishing this article.

UN kills two birds with one stone

UN kills two birds with one stone

The UN has taken various measures to solve poverty and climate change but with separate projects. In the year 2000 UN had come up with a project called Millennium development goals which had 8 goals to achieve. The first is to eradicate poverty and the last is to have a sustainable environment. To a great extent it was a success compared to the other projects. The Millennium project is still running and has achieved a substantial amount although its deadline is 2015.

The first goal of the Millennium development goal (MDG) is to eradicate poverty and extreme hunger. To achieve this goal UN has initiated two targets. The first is to halve the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day. To attain this target UN has come up with several measures such as increasing job opportunities. Although it has been proven by economists that a country cannot have a 100% employment level but by increasing the employment level, the living standards of the citizens will be improved significantly. The UN also provides aid to certain places where poverty has exceeded its limits, like in Bangladesh, India and Sudan. UN is very concerned about this matter and while poverty cannot be diminished totally, it can be reduced to a certain level where everyone will live without facing difficulties.

The UN thinks that volunteer action is the key to success as six billion people in the world has to support this crisis to be able to reach MDG target. The UN’s volunteering programmes may act as a catalyst for reduction in poverty by the means of social and economic development.

Climate change is the second most concerning matter for everyone. Recent statistics have proven that the main cause for climate change is the level of carbon dioxide emissions. The burning of fossil fuels around the world has increased the level. The UN has made a success on limiting ozone-depleting substances which is providing climate benefits. The Montreal protocol has simultaneously alleviate  the climate change problem along with protecting the ozone layer. Deforestation and extinction of animals are other concerning matters for the UN as it does have a big impact on the climate. Deforestation plays a crucial role in aggravating climate change as they serve as a carbon storage tank. The UN has been asked to look at these sectors agriculture & fisheries, disaster risk reduction, education, energy, forestry, health, industry, ICT, oceans, population & human settlements, transport, and water by the government to ensure a sustainable environment. MDG’s 7^th goal was to maintain a sustainable environment and initiates have been taken to achieve that.

The UN has been able to alleviate poverty by combating climate change. The initiatives and measures taken by them through the Millennium project are proving to be a success.

Namirah Ahmed

Kolej Tuanku Ja’far

Raising money for Tondo school, Manila

Raising money for Tondo school, Manila

‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ These words were once spoken by Nelson Mandela, a pioneer of peace and role model to many. The Global Debates team of Kolej Tuanku Ja’afar shared this idealism by raising funds to improve the quality of education to the children of Tondo school located in Manila, Philippines, whose school was devastated by the flooding effects of climate change. The plan was not only to rebuild the disaster –struck school but also to make it greener and perhaps more tranquil for the gaining of knowledge. The Global Debates programme is a competition organised by ‘The People Speak’, an initiative of the United Nations Foundation which is dedicated to engage with the younger generations to get them involved in specific global issues. The topic this year is ‘When it cannot do both, the UN should prioritize poverty reduction over combating climate change.’

This service project is relevant to the topic because, while achieving our goal of reconstructing the school and encircling it with the tranquil scenery of vegetation; we used a minimal amount of electricity to raise the funds. This essentially covered both aspects of poverty (helping children in need of a new school) and climate change (restricting the usage of energy to accomplish this task). The school raised funds through basic, although, exciting methods. One might think that selling cupcakes is a mundane means of earning money and well … it is. However, the experience of baking over 400 cupcakes was an enjoyable task. One that was met quite well I must say. These delicious delights sold quickly at a measly price of just RM2 per cupcake and were worth all the blood, sweat and icing sugar.  The second action of charity was very simple as well – A ‘read-a-thon’. The plan was to sit down and read a book, State of Fear by Michael Crichton, within two days. The only catch was that the book couldn’t stop being read. People would sponsor the completion of this book (a euphemism for betting, if I didn’t know any better) before its deadline to earn donation money. This was an appealing choice of fund raising because it was really, really ‘green’. But just how green? It took practically no electricity. It didn’t require a plug, a wire or a light bulb since we went as far as only reading in the day; just two people, sitting down and reading. Of course, people took turns and whoever read only chunks of the book probably hadn’t had a clue about the plot but the book was completed nevertheless and money was raised!

The initial aim was to raise four thousand ringgit. This number was suggested by The Head of Sixth Form, who seemingly pulled a random large number in the thousands out of her head. Admittedly, she even said the bar had been set high. By the end of the week, we had superseded this number by earning an impressive four and a half thousand ringgit for the Tondo school.  You could say we managed to earn some ‘greens’ while staying as green as possible

By: Carl Olim Marsh

Battle of the Giants

Poverty and Climate Change. Related?

For people that work in the UN, they would obviously know what is the connection between poverty and climate change. But what about us regular people? Are we informed enough to know the meanings of the two words in the headline?

I have conducted some interviews with a number of people, regarding poverty and climate change.I considered some views are very sophisticated, whereas the rest, not THAT smart. Since some of them are teachers, and some of them are just a bunch of teenagers. But not all the teenagers I asked gave weird answers, there are intellectual answers, too. In my interviews, I used roughly 6-7 questions about poverty and climate change.“What is poverty?” and “Do you think poverty can be completely banned from earth?” and slowly, I moved on to questions regarding climate change.

The answers that the interviewee gave me are pretty interesting. Most of them gave me the definition of poverty as “People living with no food”. They also mentioned lack of education, lack of basic infrastructure, and having an extremely low standards of living. Most of the people I interviewed don’t really believe that poverty can be completely banned from the earth. Scarcity and Human greed played a role here. But they surely hope so.

“What comes to your mind when you hear the word, Climate change?” That was my first question regarding climate change. They gave me various answers, like, the change of weather, increasing sea levels, etc. But the first thing those people told me was, Global Warming. It’s amazing how 10 people can give you the same answer like that.

Next up, the connection between poverty and climate change. Is there any connection? Or isn’t there? More than half of the people I interviewed agreed with the statement of “Poverty and Climate Change are related somehow”. One opinion, is that since the earth is getting hotter, the temperature is increasing, the lands are drying, thus resulting a reduction in the productivity of agricultural goods, reducing the income of farmers, leads to poverty. So in his view, Climate change worsen or even helped to create poverty.Another opinion said, If the natural disasters that causes many people to suffer such as floods and hurricanes are caused by climate change, then climate change surely worsen poverty.

Here is one of the people’s opinion about the connection between climate change and poverty:

“when economies is develop, people are more educated, people will worry more about climate change. But what about poor people?  they are suffering just for food and shelter, they can’t be bothered about climate change. Developed countries are polluting the world with their industrial waste, whats wrong with chopping down trees in developing countries? they just want to earn income, unless government has an alternative job for these people.”

That was Mr. Suresh, an economics teacher. So, in the end, people are actually aware that poverty and climate change are related in the context of “Climate Change makes poverty worse”. Do you agree with that?

Andi Giyanti Priyanka

Kolej Tuanku Ja’afar

Our future is in your hands

Our future is in your hands.

Our world today is badly affected by the global warming issues and to make things worse, poverty overwhelms us when we, today’s generation, need the funds to keep this country running. In economics, there is a term where the next best alternative is foregone for the sake of the choice we make. It is called opportunity cost. If applied to our current situation, we have to choose between poverty and climate change. However, that does not mean we cannot have a win-win situation whereby both problems can be resolved without forgetting the other. We need the climate treaty in Copenhagen to be successful as without it, the condition of our country will worsen. With the treaty, the United Nations would be able to help us guarantee a better future for all in the long run.

Let’s assume a huge natural disaster due to climate change inflicts damage on this country. This will further deepen the debts owed by the country as the Government must borrow money from other countries to rebuild the country. We do not want this treaty to fail like the Kyoto Protocol did as the United Nations need to guarantee our country a chance to develop and attain economic growth. With this economic growth, only then poverty can be overcome.

Climate change is proven to affect everyone whereby poverty affects a certain number of people.  Erratic weather will cause long draughts which will certainly destroy food crops. This shows how climate change is related to poverty. The inability to produce any product in our country as we depend mainly on the primary sector, will further throw the country into debt as economic growth cannot be reached and the country must import more goods from other countries. The government must also spend more on social welfare and the people will suffer as there is a limit to what a government is able to do.

Imagine the people suffering, their basic needs are not met, as the temperatures and the scarcity of land increases, I am very sure that the demand for the necessities such as homes and clothes will rise and, therefore, increase prices as supply cannot be met. Inflation occurs and the country is thrown into a deeper hole where poverty will affect more people in the country as they are unable to pay for their basic needs. Through the climate change treaty, this can be avoided as resources are not wasted and inflation will not occur this way.  The increase in temperatures will definitely melt the polar ice caps and the sea levels will increase. The rapid increase will drown the lower grounds and more people will become homeless. Imagine Tokyo or New York in the same situation. Billions of dollars spent on the land will become worthless as these cities sink below. This will cause a lot of problems and will create havoc. This proves how important a comprehensive climate treaty is to everyone including the future generation.

Sarah Eleena Kamarlul

Kolej Tuanku Ja’afar, Malaysia.

A Passing Paradox

A PASSING PARADOX: “Climate change doesn’t affect Malaysia”

By Lilian Lee, Kolej Tuanku Ja’afar, Malaysia; 28 November 2009

Is the above statement true?

It sounds most unlikely for Malaysia to be affected by the global phenomenon of climate change.  Before, certain local citizens perceived that Malaysia is a total free zone from disasters related to climate change. Some locals may not realise the rising temperature as they are mainly enclosed to air-conditioned areas when living in an environment of sub-tropical weather.

Today, the recurring mild climate change related disasters in Malaysia which caused significant socioeconomic impacts to the local community raises the awareness that neither any man nor country can escape from the effects of climate change.

One of the most significant climate change effect in Malaysia is the El Nino drought in the year 1997 and 1998 which caused extensive impact to the local environment and communities. Due to prolonged dry weather conditions, certain parts of the country were threatened by extensive wild forest fires which almost never occurred in Malaysian history. On the contrary, frequent violent storms with sudden torrential pour of rain can happen during hot mid-year tropical seasons. As climate changes, Malaysia’s weather has gone completely haywire; the hot seasons become hotter and rainy season becomes wetter or it can also be that the hot season turns to become a rainy season.

Climate change affects mainly the agriculture, public health and water resources of local community.  Due to unpredictable weather, crops have lower tendency of growth and the production of agriculture commodities becomes unstable. According to Malaysia’s Padiberas Nasional Berhad (BERNAS), drought makes paddy plantation harder to sustain and in a long run, the locals’ food supply maybe jeopardise. Statistics show that climate change affects one third of the local community who depends on the agriculture sector for their livelihood, with some 14% working in farms and plantations.

Warmer temperatures increase tropical diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, jaundice and encephalitis, as mosquitoes thrive on such climatic conditions. In an interview with the Natural Resources and Environment Minister, Datuk Douglas Uggah said “Now, mosquitoes live in areas they can’t previously and this increases risk of tropical disease infections”. Consequently, the public health sector becomes vulnerable as a result of climate change.

There are ways to help the local community particularly the farmers whose lives are affected by climate change.  Example, a consistent five year renewal of plantation plan by redrafting the agro-climatic map based on the latest agriculture rainfall index (ARI). This plan will help farmers yield better crops as it defines the change in climate and types of soil in various land regions which have different environmental characteristics for different crops. Campaigns against tropical diseases are taking its lead through the media and the locals are summoned to create clean environments to prevent the spread of mosquito breeding areas.

In short, the local citizens are becoming mindful that climate change is an issue of no boundaries. Climate change is affecting every country and it is every individual responsibility to manage it.

We’re Back!

Yes, you got that right mate!

We’re back with a whole new team this term for Global Debates, organised by The People Speak. With the hight standards set by our predecesors, this team must do as well as them will do our best while having loads of fun while we’re at it.

So much have been done already. So you people will hear soon about the Service Projects that we’ve worked on. Keep stalking this page alright to find out.

The topic for this year’s (2009/2010) Global Debates is “When it can not do both, the UN should prioritize poverty reduction over combating climate change.”

Basically this year its…..

POVERTY VS CLIMATE CHANGE

The others will starting posting up stuff soon to educate you masses about issues pertaining to this topic. Oh, and we’ll be introducing the new team in the “Green Team” page. Until then, here’s a little sneaky peaky of what we’re done so far =D

Closed till Further Notice

At the end of both the Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 rounds, KTJ has emerged 6th place internationally, and has clinched a place in the Youth Leadership Summit in New York this coming July.

This achievement could not have been possible without the help and co-operation of several people.

To all those who supported and contributed to helping the Kolej Tuanku Ja’afar Global Debates Team in our project in one way or another – be it by means of letting us interview you, actively participating in our Earth Day event in school, by supporting our Adopt-A-Light-Bulb campaign, or simply by reading this blog – we cannot thank you enough.

To the school, for encouraging and being so supportive of our participation in the Global Debates competition, we thank you too.

An especially big shout out goes out to Ms. Sarah Clingan, our teacher adviser – thank you so much for supervising and supporting us, and seeing us all the way through this project and Monday night meetings.

And now, this chapter comes to a close.

The Flawed Argument of Bio-Fuels

BY NISHYODHAN BALASUNDRAM

With oil prices skyrocketing to new highs of US$145 as it did in 2008 coupled by its increased price volatility, the black gold of which our economy was built on can no longer be relied upon in the long run. We have finally been hit by the realisation of the dangers of the oil addiction: that one day in the future; we will eventually run out of this precious substance.

Last September, geologists at Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) Conference in California confirmed that world oil production had stopped growing and will begin its inevitable decline during the next decade. Hence, it would be foolish of us not to develop an alternative, renewable, cheaper fuel.

Some have lauded bio-fuels as the messianic saviour that will deliver us from a fuel crisis, should we ever run out of oil. However, bio-fuels are not the sustainable substitute to oil that they seem to be. In fact, they will only exacerbate the current environmental fiasco that we have created as well as cause new problems which we do not have time or resources to deal with.

An obvious problem with bio-fuels such as corn based ethanol is that their production reduces the amount of corn and other organic products that might have otherwise been used as food. In a nutshell, producing bio-fuels reduces food production. By reducing the supply of essential staples such as corn, food prices will inevitably rise as a result. This sets a dangerous precedent whereby, the interests of the haves trump that of the have-nots.

Next up, by producing these bio-fuels, especially palm oil, we are destroying millions of acres of pristine virgin tropical rain forests which are the most biologically diverse regions on Earth. These forests are habitat to flora and fauna found nowhere else on the planet and may hold the cures to a myriad of diseases that as of yet have no remedy.

As it is, logging and dam-building projects have desecrated millions of acres of these treasure troves and once gone, they are never coming back. Now, plantation companies are buying up chunks of these forests to convert into monoculture nightmares, incapable of supporting the diversity of life that a rainforest can. Critics such as the WWF have pointed out that the clear-cutting of lowland rain forests in Sumatra and Borneo which are orangutan habitat to make way for giant oil palm plantations has threatened to send these beautiful creatures to the brink of extinction. Desperate to defend their crop, palm oil producers have resorted to accusing the anti-palm oil movement of being instigated by the competitors of palm oil and countries like the United States.

Another fundamental flaw in the bio-fuel argument is the mindset that it is possible to grow enough of corn, sugarcane, oil palm and other viable crops to completely replace oil one day. This is ludicrous and clearly irrational – the amount of land it would take to supply the world’s demand for these fuels is just too much and will result in the conversion of huge tracts of agricultural land used to grow food to that used to grow fuel. This practice is unsustainable in the long run. What we need is a change of lifestyle, not a change of fuel.

An Environmental Opinion

In this interview, the Global Debates team speaks to Robert Basiuk, an environmental manager consultant who is also involved in eco-tourism.