News updated: Aug. 27, 2010

No.1

Figure 1. Map of Pakistan’s flood area.

There was Pakistan’s worst flooding in 80 years.  The floods began in July 2010 following heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, lower Punjab and Baluchistan regions of Pakistan. (See figure 1) About a million homes have been destroyed since the flooding began. The United Nations estimated that more than twenty million people are injured or homeless as a result of the flooding. At one point, approximately on fifth of Pakistan’s total land area was underwater due to the flooding. “Floodwaters ravaged hundreds of villages in Pakistan’s main province of Punjab Wednesday, destroying homes, soaking crops, and threatening more lives. Aid workers warned that bloated rivers would soon surge into the country’s south, prompting more evacuations.” (Huffington Post, 2010) (See figure 2) The U.N. is concerned that “aid is not arriving fast enough, while the World Health Organization reported that ten million people were forced to drink unsafe water.” “The Pakistani economy has been harmed by extensive damage to infrastructure and crops. The structural damages are estimated to exceed 4 billion dollars, and wheat crop damages are estimated to be over 500 million dollars.” (Carlotta, 2010)

Devastating floods killed more than 1600 people. More than 17 million Pakistanis have been affected by the monsoon floods that began a month ago. In the past few days, at least 1 million people have been displaced in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Homeless families are drinking unsafe water and because of that “hundreds of thousands of victims have acquired transmittable ailments such as acute watery diarrhea, scabies and respiratory infections.” (Carlotta 2010) It is unclear when displaced Pakistanis will be able to return to their homes. But many will have no house to return to. About 1.2 million homes have been destroyed from the flooding.

In Pakistan, heavy rains have washed away homes, shops, and livelihoods. Many people are stranded with no access to food. Millions in Pakistan need clean water, sanitary food, housing and medical care. I think the solution to Pakistan flooding is to help them. The Pakistanis need us. If we donate, it will help them a lot. Every dollar makes a difference.

Figure 2.

This aerial view shows a flood-hit area of Kot Addu, Pakistan on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010. Floodwaters ravaged hundreds of villages in Pakistan’s main province of Punjab, destroying homes, soaking crops, and threatening more lives. Aid workers warned that bloated rivers would soon surge into the country’s south, prompting more evacuations.

Vocabulary words:

Monsoon: rainy season in southern Asia when the southwestern monsoon blows, bringing heavy rains.

Ravage: Something has been damaged so much that it is almost completely destroyed.

Evacuations: the act of removing the contents of something.

Acquire: To get; to gain.

Aliment: Nutriment: a source of materials to nourish the body.

Scabies: Scabies is a very infectious skin disease caused by very small creatures and makes you want to scratch a lot.

Respiratory: The respiratory system’s function is to allow gas exchange through all parts of the body.

Bibliography:

(News)

Gall, By Carlotta. “2010 Pakistan Floods – The New York Times.” Times Topics. The New York Times, 27 Aug. 2010. Web. 29 Aug. 2010. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/floods/2010_pakistan_floods/index.html>.

(Picture)

[Figure 1]

Map of Pakistan’s Flood Area – Hindustan Times. Digital image. Hindustan Times: Latest Breaking News from India, Cricket, Bollywood, World, Business, Videos. Hindustan Times, 25 Aug. 2010. Web. 29 Aug. 2010. <http://www.hindustantimes.com/pakistan/Map-of-Pakistan-s-flood-area/591971/H1-Article1-591497.aspx>.

[Figure 2]

Pakistan Flood Victims: ‘No Food,’ ‘No Money,’ Would Have Been Better To Die (PHOTOS). Digital image. Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Huffington Post. Web. 29 Aug. 2010. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/11/pakistan-flood-victims-no_n_678915.html#s122857>.

Nghe An, Vietnam (The capital is Vinh.) Figure 1

A Vietnam typhoon. Number 1, August 25, 2010,

A tropical storm strikes in North Central of Vietnam on Tuesday, August 24th, 2010. It’s the third tropical storm of the year in the small communities and villages of Nghe An and Thanh Hoa. The typhoon blew several roofs off houses and numerous trees collapsed. As a result, 4,000 homes were demolished, 62,000 hectares of rice fields were flooded with water. This killed 4 people and injured 20. Another 10 people who sailed on a boat with their crew vanished and disappeared. A consequence of the tropical storm evacuated thousands and thousands of people from towns and villages. About 74,000 people that lived in high coastal areas were evacuated in Nghe An. Later, the South of that community had 14,000 people desert their homes. The hurricane had spread and reinforced over the South China sea, speeding winds at 117km per hour. The meteorologists say that Mindulle will dissapear and scatter on wednesday and it had recently been a misery, gloom and sadness. (Aljazeera.net, 25 Aug. 2010.)

If you see figure 2 down below, the tempest destroyed towns and homes. (EPA, 2010) On the left, figure 1, the map locates Nghe An and the capital of Vinh. This part of Vietnam is next to the border to Laos in figure 3. (World Heritage road) Furthermore, the map way below of my text, pinpoints the place of Nghe An (in pink), in the whole country of Vietnam. You can spot the province of Thanh Hoa in Green. (Maps of the world 2009)

This news affects me and my life because this storm took place where I live and all of us have to be cautious of it. Everybody who lives in Vietnam should know about this storm that hit in where we live. This is relates to our life and we have to be aware of what is happening around us and our own country. Thus, we can help find solutions to it and predict the future. If a storm then happens to us, we are prepared.  In Nghe An, the storm caused thousands of people to desert their destroyed town and community. About 90,000 people have to find a new residence, a new place to live. It must be very harsh for them. In addition, the typhoon had a big impact on the environment. Acres of rice fields were flooded and houses were knocked down and demolished. At this moment, I’m worried because this tragedy could possibly happen to us in Ho Chi Minh City.                                                     (Figure 2, The Causes of the Tempest)

It’s surprising that there were no resources provided for the people who evacuated. They might have lost their valued possessions back at their demolished homes. I am still wondering how are they going to find a new place to live after leaving their ruined towns and villages. I want to know where they are right now. Do they have enough food and money? How are they going to afford a new home and buy meals? What happened to the people who evacuated and where are those people now?  Do the residents who evacuated have enough resources and supplies? In this case, I suggest that the government should provide food, water and new houses for the evacuating citizens who lost everything. And it’s astonishing that nobody helped the lost people to find new homes. None of this was mentioned in the article. The author only took the police officials opinion and statement, and the government’s view of the storm. On the other hand, they didn’t state anything about solutions to the storm, such as fixing the damages that it caused. The writer’s perspective was only about what the storm had caused and damaged, but nothing about fixing the damages. They could people help the evacuating citizens and rebuild the demolished towns of Nghe An and Thanh Hoa province.

(Figure 3, the map of Vietnam)

Vocabulary words:

- Mindulle = The name of the tropical storm. “Tropical storm Mindulle hit north central Vietnam on Tuesday.”

-Dissipate = Disappear or scatter “Meteorologists say that Mindulle would dissipate late on Wednesday.”

-Downgraded = Reduce to a lower grade, level or rank. “And it has been downgraded into a low depression”

Bibliography:

(The article and the vocabulary words) Agencies. “Several Dead in Vietnam Storm – Asia-Pacific – Al Jazeera English.” AJE – Al Jazeera English. Aljazeera.net, 25 Aug. 2010. Web. 26 Aug. 2010. <http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/08/201082552016705277.html>.

(The Photograph of the Article)EPA “About 4,000 Homes Have Been Damaged and 62,000 Hectares of Rice Fields Had Been Flooded [EPA]“. 2010. Photograph. EPA, Nghe An. AJE – Al Jazeera English. Web. 26 Aug. 2010. <http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/08/201082552016705277.html>.

(Small part of Vietnam map)”Nghe An.” World Heritage Road. Web. 27 Aug. 2010. <http://www.worldheritageroad.com/centralnorth/centralvnnorth-summary.htm#HATINH>.

(Big map of Vietnam) “Vietnam Political Map.” Map. Maps of World. MapXL.inc, 2009. Web. 27 Aug. 2010. <http://www.mapsofworld.com/vietnam/vietnam-political-map.html>.

Q: If  human trafficking exists, how come no one is doing something about it?

A: Some countries in the world might feel pitiful towards the countries in which human trafficking exists. However, some other countries might not even care even if human trafficking exists. For example, back in the old times, some of the richer countries dominated over the poor countries by invading and controlling some of the poorer countries. The countries in Africa are one of the main examples. Therefore, even in present days, most of the people in the world doesn’t budge about it.

When I heard that most of the people doesn’t care about human trafficking, I was shocked about it. I wanted to help out the issue with human trafficking. I think that everyone knows that human trafficking is one of the main issues that’s happening in the world. Sometimes, in my thought, I would ask to myself why people these days doesn’t care about human trafficking/slavery that’s happening in the LEDCs.

To prevent from this happening often, I should try to convince other people to care more. That way, more people will now realize how bad the human trafficking is. Some people might even reflect on themselves how much they haven’t cared about poverty that much. I would also think that the if more people they reflect based on themselves, the better the world would become.