End Extreme Poverty and Hunger Response
This group demonstrated the aim of the assignment. They applied their goal to a geographical location utterly unfamiliar to them and remotely investigated the situation. From this distance, they relied on published data from governmental sources, then studied the work of large-scale philanthropic and humanitarian organizations. Ethiopia is a country which certainly requires our attention and understanding and we should all feel better-informed on their plight, thanks to the efforts of this presentation.
Ethiopia is one of the most under-privileged areas of the earth. The UN has created the Millennium Development Goals to motivate countries just like this to raise their standards and improve the quality of life for the citizens. Particularly relevant to Ethiopia, the goal to end extreme poverty and hunger is a commendable effort. Ethiopia is dependent on agriculture, which is directly related to the climate and the recent droughts in this region of the world. They are dependent on foreign aid for existence, and much of this is misapplied due to corruption in the governmental structure. One organization which has attempted to make a difference is the World Bank. One necessity to the country was an improved transportation infrastructure, which required a passable road system. The World Bank began work and tried to maintain a self-supporting institution involving Ethiopians which would continue the work. Apparently, the system was not particularly successful, as the report indicated that the venture is only nominally operating. This is unfortunate, as the agriculture market could vastly improve is transportation were possible. The subsistence farmers could expand their productivity if they were able to sell to more people.
The presentation ran short at this point, but several other organizations were mentioned: the Strategic Development and Poverty Reduction Program, the Ethiopian Strategy Support Program, and the Amhara Credit and Savings Institution.
The design of the slides was not particularly outstanding. Rather, it was dull and relied on moving images for interest. The content was not consistently assembled, and each page was organized differently. There were no charts or graphs, and a lot of text made each slide especially confusing.
This group performed the aims of the project – to examine an unknown foreign country and attempt to develop some affinity and comprehension of a situation far removed from our experience. If the information was vague, the attitude disinterested and the overall effect apathetic, that was not the fault of the group. It was a clear example to me that compassion and understanding cannot be truly developed merely through an assignment. Four months, a lot of reading/research and a group project combined with lectures demanding social justice do not achieve empathy.