Author: Adam Clare

Mobile Phones Used to Help Poor

Farmers in Africa are using mobile phones to better their lives and business careers. The phones allow them to gain direct access to their respective markets and keep informed about global trends about their industry.

“One of Mashva’s neighbors said he had quadrupled his monthly income since using the phone, as he was now able to cut out a middle man who paid him far less than the market price for his cotton crop.

“Last year was really a disaster, I made around 800 rand ($120) a month and was having trouble feeding my family,” Jeremiah Chauke told reporters. “But last month I made around 4,000 rand — that’s a lot of bucks.”

Chauke has invested some of that extra cash into growing vegetables on a small plot of land near his house, which he also sells using his phone”

Government Learns from the People

Sites like Freecycle have been around for awhile now, and that of course is good. What’s better is that now a governmental body in Ontario, Canada has started their own version: York Region’s Reuseful!

From the site:

“This area provides:
opportunities for residents to give away gently used items;
a spot for people and organizations seeking free items to make their requests;
community recycling and hazardous waste information throughout York Region communities.”

The site is still in development.

MTV Helps Youth Think

A study done by none other than MTV has found out a few reasons why youth are disengaged from activism. The results of “Just Cause,” a research study that deconstructs how youth perceive “activism” and explores the motivating factors and barriers in their decision to become involved in social causes.

The study includes more than 1200 young people, including expert interviews, ethnographies and a national poll of a representative sample with participants ages 12 to 24. Findings deconstruct youth activism and find an “activation gap”, showing a strong disparity between interest in and involvement in social causes. Anecdotal responses from respondents also offer clues into successful strategies into closing the “activation gap”

It is one thing to complain that youth are disengaged, it’s another to know why they are disengaged, and now we have a better idea to engage youth.