Hansel Thunberg

[hanselthunberg]

Poverty in Liberia

Hansel here with a new post!

Today’s topic is poverty in Liberia.  According to “Action Against Hunger”, 83.8% of Liberia’s population lives on less than $1.25 per day. The Liberian civil war (1989 to 1996) resulted in the majority of households with unstable incomes and poor agricultural production. Because the poverty is high, a lot of people do not get their 3 meals a day. A lot of the country’s money was spent during the Ebola epidemic in 2014. Ebola is a disease that killed around 11,000 people. The liberian health services were unable to treat all of the patients. I do not want there to be any misunderstandings. Liberia's government cares about their people just as much as any other country, they even provided 8,700 students with meals! It is important to spread the word about these happenings. 

As you may have seen, I have been sharing information about certain NGOs. Make sure to do your research on these organisations to ensure that your money goes to the right people. Some NGOs keep a large sum of money donated and other organisations might send people who are not qualified to do “voluntary work”. These “voluntary workers” usually end up doing more harm than good.

Since this is my last posts about Liberia have been focused on serious global issues, I figured I would write about the beauties of Liberia too.

In Liberia you will find the Sapo National Park in Greenville. The park is a protected rainforest that is home to many different species. Some experts might say that it has the highest mammal diversity in the world!

Kpatawee waterfall is a beautiful waterfall a bit outside Monrovia. Dwe told me about this place the first time we met. It is supposed to be quite relaxing, but I will have to go and see for myself. 

I hope you learned something new with this post! See you soon!

Love you all // Hansel

[hanselthunberg]

Wildlife endangerment

Hello again everyone! So nice to speak to you again!

Today I will be talking about frogs. Yes you read that right, frogs. 

Here in Ecuador frogs are some of the most endangered animals and I think it is horrible seeing as they are one of my favorite animals, as well as giraffes, but we do not really have those here :(

Anyways, Ecuador’s Environments Ministry has claimed that 186 different frog species are either endangered or extinct. Now, this may not seem like the biggest issue, especially considering all the other topics I have covered here on my blog, but it is. Frogs are a huge part of the biodiversity here in Ecuador as well as a very important species for the animals around it. It is also my very favorite animal and I could go on for an entire post about why, but that is a topic for another time. 

Of course frogs are not the only animals facing extinction if actions aren’t taken but they are often overlooked and not often talked about so I really felt the need to shed some light on this issue. If they were to go extinct, not only would it be a loss to the biomes dependent on them, but what do we tell our future children? I loved hearing and learning about frogs when I was younger!

On a more serious note however, frogs do play a crucial role in many ecosystems when it comes to controlling insects and being a food supply for many larger animals. If they were to disappear it would rattle entire ecosystems and very possibly affect us considering insects and more precisely poisonous once are of big concern here where I live.

I hope to have given you a small insight to an issue not regularly talked about!

Look forward to talking to you in my next post!

[hanselthunberg]

Pollution in Bolivia: Volume 2

People’s reactions Every single city in Bolivia now has 3-4 pedestrian days a year. Although it may seem to be stupid and absurd to ban all the cars in a city for foreigners, the Bolivian people, especially the families, are absolutely loving it. Several family members have commented on the pedestrian day, ‘’We really enjoy that it is so quiet and peaceful without any cars around, and that’s there’s space in the streets for the kids to play.’’ and, ‘’It gives us a great opportunity to do environmental education about climate change and protecting the environment, as people enjoy it so very much.’’

Alternative solutions Despite the fact that banning cars may seem to be a viable solution, people still need public transportation for their everyday life. The government of Bolivia has now come up with an alternative yet simple solution, cycling. “Our plans for the future include turning part of the downtown into a pedestrian-only area, and hopefully acquiring a citywide public bike system like other cities have,” said Villarroel, a government official. In addition to cycling, walking on foot is becoming more and more common in Bolivia. Andres Clares, a 16-year-old, says: “I really like walking at least one day without cars. It’s quieter and the air is so much fresher.” The government has also been working on educating the youth, “These educate about the air, animals, water, recycling, protected areas, and trees,” said Gaviota Borda, head of the municipal department of environmental protection.

[hanselthunberg]

Pollution in Liberia

Pollution is a huge problem in Liberia’s capital Monrovia (Where Dwe lives!).  Dwe told me about the civil war in liberia 1989 - 1996 and its effect on the country itself. During and after the civil war, there was no proper garbage collection which left the streets filthy with garbage everywhere. The piles of trash are so big at times that you cannot even pass them. The trash has blocked sewers and filled rivers to the rim. You cannot really blame anyone for not picking their trash up since there has not been a formal trash for a couple of years and even if they did get one, they would need some time to get all of it. 

There is not only pollution in the sense of trash and water bottles, but also air and water. We cannot live without these crucial substances. The air in liberia is very polluted and there is no clean running water. Due to this Liberian inhabitants are at great risk for diseases like E. Coli infections etc. The air pollution can cause issues like itchy airways and can eventually lead to serious conditions such as cancer and difficult allergies. The polluted air also contributes to global warming. 

I do not feel like I have the right to propose a solution since I do not live there and I am not aware of everything going on. But I really hope we can figure it out soon! Liberians deserve the best, just like everyone else in this beautiful world! Do not forge!!! SPREAD LOVE NOT HATE!!!

[hanselthunberg]

Human Rights in my country

Welcome back to my blog everyone! 

I will talk about something that greatly concerns me today and that is human rights. Here in Ecuador especially it is of great concern seeing as we have a ruling that is not the biggest human rights activist. We have issues concerning both severely poor conditions in prisons and the restrictions on women’s and girls’ reproductive health. 

In prisons we have issues with abuse of inmates and extreme overcrowding. There has even been videos released showing the poor conditions. Ever since 2012 the government has invested great amounts of money into building more detention facilities but it is still a relevant issue here. 

The regulations on abourtions are something that has cost us so many young women over the past years. The regulations are driving pregnant women to resort to illegal and unsafe ways of abortion which unfoutunatley leads to many of the young women dying from the complications. Since August of 2014 184 women have been prosecuted for having an abortion and with the horrifuýing statistics of 25% ow girls over the age of 15 having been or being sexually assaulted, this says a lot, not only about human rights but womens’ rights. 

The current President of our country is not doing his best in trying to help these people or making our lives any easier. More recently he has brought through new regulations regarding the media. He wants more power over the media and therefore the freedom of speech, which is a basic and important human right. 

Fortunately the people of Ecuador can see other parts of the world moving forward and get inspired, but most importantly, hopeful for a better future.

Thank you all for continuing to read my blog and wanting to educate yourself, it is inspiring!

Hope to see you next time!

[hanselthunberg]

POACHING IN LIBERIA

Guten tag! Hansel here! 

Today I will cover poaching in Liberia. For those of you who do not know what poaching is, Poaching is illegal hunting of wild animals. They take fur, and ivory to make things like furniture. Dwe recently enlightened me on this issue and I wanted to share the word. Bushmeat, (meat from animals in the bush) is a delicacy in Liberia, and due to the killing of the animals, a lot of species are endangered. Some of the most targeted animals are:

Elephants:

Poachers steal ivory from elephants tusks. Ivory is seen as a luxury material and can be used to craft many different things such as piano keys. According to WWF, 20,000 elephants are killed every year. 

Leopards:

Poachers kill Leopards for their beautiful fur/skin and teeth. Leopards are on the list of critically endangered species and they might die out if people do not stop killing them!! 

Pygmo hippos:

These are my favourite because they are so cute!  Here is a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDvySurFY_w

These adorable animals are usually killed for their bushmeat. It is very sad to see such a beautiful animal killed, Liberia has a law saying that it is illegal to kill the animal. Sadly, there are only 3,000 Pygmo hippos left in the world. 

This is all very sad and you might wonder what you can do about it. There are many NGOs that work against poaching. Get yourself involved and help save the world!

Your favourite German Ecuadorian

HANSEL!!

[hanselthunberg]

Pollution in Bolivia: Volume 1

Hi folks, my friend Olivia of Bolivia has come back to make another interesting article regarding the pollution in Bolivia! Make sure that you are tuning in to my Tumblr page! I have got some other super fun stuff on my page so make sure that you follow me! The environmental issues have been growing rapidly in the last five years in some of the major cities in Bolivia. -Reasons behind the pollution As a result of the rapid economic developments, the middle-class population has increased over the last 10 years and so has the number of cars in the cities. The large augment of cars has been one of the reasons for the pollution but it is not the only one who is to blame. Other problems such as slash-and-burn agriculture, overgrazing, industrial pollution, and deforestation are also accountable for the worsening situation. Bolivia holds an important share of global forest cover and the number of forests is declining in the last 20 years. Annual deforestation averaged 173,994 hectares in net forest lost per year between 1990 and 2000, and 243,120 hectares per year between 2000 and 2010. The future will be grim if the current situation keeps going on.

-Government actions This has resulted in a major dissatisfaction among the inhabitants in those cities. People have not been feeling well about the current conditions, and the government has decided to establish a pedestrian day to stop this terrible trend. By simply banning all the cars temporarily, Bolivia seemed to have made major achievements according to the politicians, “Air pollution drops by 60-70% because 70% of our air contaminants come from vehicles,” said Soledad Delgadillo of Cochabamba’s municipal government. “The difference in air quality is noticeable. It [pollution] drops to almost zero when normally it can rise as high as 100 parts per cubic meter.’’

[hanselthunberg]

Pollution in Ecuador

Buenos dias my dear followers!

Today I will be talking about pollution in my home country of Ecuador

The environmental situation in Ecuador has been characterized as “one of the largest environmental disasters in history” by the Rainforest Action Networks in 2010. The oil pollution affecting the soil and the water coming from agriculture such as farming and fishing is, what we suspect, the leading cause for the sharp increase in serious illness in Ecuador. This is so sad. More and more people are developing cancer and other serious conditions and there has been an increase in the amount of miscarriages. Not only has it been devastating to our health but also to the health of the living organisms and animals around us. It is tearing the biodiversity apart with hundreds, if not thousands of different insects and animals dying and becoming endangered every single day. This will change the world as we know it and it is happening right in front of our eyes. It is not only affecting the biodiversity but also the economy. A teeny tiny part of the population is getting richer from all this destruction but the majority, especially in these developing countries are becoming poor and homeless. The money is going to the governments and people are going bankrupt from all their medical bills. Everything around us is dying and so are we. The situation in Ecuador is just one of many contributing to this chaos. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but that is a subject for a later post. 

Well, I hope you have a great day now! Thank you for your continued support and I will talk to you all in my next post!

[hanselthunberg]

Drug-related issues in Bolivia

Hi, my followers! Today I am getting help from my friend Olivia from Bolivia. She is going to walk us through drug issues in Bolivia.

1.

drug(coca) issues

The long-term drug-related issues have been truly terrible and they are even worsening these days. However, the country seems to quite helpless when it comes to stopping drug trafficking. The Vice News has published an article regarding the drug war in Bolivia, Bolivia ended its drug war by kicking out the DEA and legalizing cocaine. This may seem to be an idiotic move as not only did the law enforcers stop the, but they also promoted it by legalizing Coca. 

Coca crops

It’s a subject that primarily involves the coca crop, used in the production of the drug, cocaine. Trafficking and corruption have been two of the most prominent negative side-effects of the illicit narcotics trade in Bolivia and the country's government has engaged in negotiations with the United States (US) as a result of the industry's ramifications.

Legalization of Coca

The plant is grown as a cash crop in Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, even in areas where its cultivation is unlawful. Coca as a mild stimulant has been used by people for a very long time. It is most often chewed raw to give energy and treat ailments ranging from altitude sickness to menstruation pain. However, the coca plant is also the source of cocaine. The controversial legalization of coca has brought issues to the UN and they have been working on it ever since. The UN agency helps the Bolivian government track land used for coca with satellite images and backs on-the-ground visits by a small army of inspectors. However, the US may seem to be unhappy about the current situation. The former President Obama commented on the situation in 2016, Bolivia has ‘’ demonstrably failed’’ to live up to its international counter-narcotics commitments. 

Government involvements

The former president Evo Morales, who has been in a huge political storm lately, has made it clear that he does not care about what the US thinks. "We in Bolivia, without US military bases and without the DEA, even without the shared responsibility of drug-consuming countries, have demonstrated that it is possible to confront drug trafficking with the participation of the people," he said earlier in 2016.

[hanselthunberg]

Human Trafficking in Liberia

As many of you may have seen, there has been an increase of human trafficking cases according to social media. The posts include ways to protect yourself when put in a situation of being kidnapped. Since human trafficking has reached and is being noticed in the western world. I imagine there must be people who do not have the voices or money to seek help and to tell the world. This sparked an interest and I decided to investigate further. Since I have already started the topic on human trafficking in my own country, I decided to turn to another country. Today I am focusing on human trafficking in Liberia. With help from my good friend Dwe.  

There are multiple ways, the human traffickers collect people (mostly women and children). One of the ways is by kidnapping women and children from rural areas and placing them in larger cities, where they are forced to sell their bodies with no earned income. Some children may be put to work in mines. 

There are also cases were women outside of Liberia are promised accommodation and jobs, but turned down at arrival and are usually forced into the sex slave industry. The women cannot leave the country because the traffickers steal their passports. One might say this is an unlikely situation, but there has actually been a lot of reported cases of this happening.

Liberia has finally started to act, and already 4 traffickers. Someday we will all put a stop to this cruel business and live happily together, I hope, See you guys next week!

[hanselthunberg]

Trafficking - Ecuador

Hello, it’s me again, HANSEL!

Thank you all so much for the support on my last post. It means so much!

In today’s post I will be talking about a really big problem we are facing in different ways all around the world, human trafficking. More specifically I will be doing three different posts where I bring up this topic, concentrating on three different countries. In this post we will be focusing on Ecuador, since this is where I live.

Here in Ecuador we have laws prohibiting any sort of trafficking, it was amended in 2005. Here, labor trafficking is punishable by 6-9 years of prison while sexual trafficking is punishable by 8-12 years in prison. Personally I think both crimes should be taken more seriously and therefore have longer prison sentences, like way longer. But in some parts of the world people may not have to go to prison at all so this is a really good start in dealing with this problem. More recently an Anti-trafficking task force was put into training, more precisely in 2012. It is composed of Ecuadorian police, prosecutors and people from several women’s shelters. I think this is super good because the people who have had to suffer from trafficking deserves help and a chance to get better.

Despite this task-force there were 61 cases of trafficking reported and 31 convictions in 2018 compared to 2016 when there were 40 cases and 18 convictions.

So as you can all see we do have a long way to go but I think we are getting there.

In my next post I will be talking about the same issue in Liberia where I will be getting help from my good friend Dwe.

Thank you for reading and talk to you more next time!

[hanselthunberg]

An Introduction

Hello everybody! I am Hansel Thunberg from Ecuador, a candy lover and social media activist. I am 13 years old and my favorite subject is Social Science. When I grow up I want to be a politician, a good one. I find the lack of good politicians infuriating. My main intention with this blog is to spread awareness on global issues. My sister Greta is an activist herself! She is a climate activist and has already been to the UN convention. I am trying to live up to my sisters name by talking about other global issues, like, pollution, trafficking, domestic violence and food shortages. To make sure I get good sources, I am very active on social media and I have made some friends to ensure I get good sources.

I have made two friends in total. Dwe is 12 and he lives in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. He has 5 sisters and knows 3 languages. He is going to help me with this blog. My other helper and friend is named Olivia.

Olivia lives in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and she is 14 years old. We are both passionate about human rights. She has a twitter account where she shares other activist posts, I will link her account in case you want to take a look. @Olivia.tells.Bolivia.

I hope that gives you an insight of where I am going with this blog. You might encounter something new, something known or maybe even something fantastic!

See you next week, where I will be talking about Trafficking.