One thing I like to do in my free time is check out what kinds of things are happening around the world. In particular, I spent some time today looking through events that have unfolded in particular areas around the globe since their times of crisis. People only tend to pay attention to events for 2 to 3 weeks, or however CNN covers a story before it becomes “boring” to talk about. To relieve such feelings, lets take a look back in places that haven’t been in the news recently, and see how things have changed since the hardship.
Somalia
The overall state of Somalia has majorly deteriorated. Throughout the social conflict between extremist forces and “government” forces, humanitarian aid has been difficult to produce for the millions of people affected by the famine. Even for those who have been helped, many don’t want to return to their homes. The Ethiopian government recently decided that they needed to step in to control the current state of its neighbor to prevent future conflict between the two nations. This is in addition to the Kenyan troops which moved into the failed state back in October. Ethiopian and Kenyan troops are now stationed in Mogadishu to be sure humanitarian aid workers are protected enough to provide food, water, and medical care to the troves of people migrating to the cities, away from conflict zones. People are hoping the next rainy season will bring enough water to help crop growth, bringing more food for people come February, but with the recent droughts, future events remain uncertain.
Japan
It’s been over 8 months since an earthquake devastated northern Japan. The nuclear fallout from the power plant meltdown has continued as a dangerous threat to the region. Now that Japan has had some time to plan out future development plans, political boundaries are emerging as politicians argue about how to spend the money that was set aside for rebuilding areas damaged by the earthquakes and tsunami. Most transportation grids have been repaired, and many homes have been rebuilt, but anything within 100 miles of the power plants remains dangerous. Smaller earthquakes continue to rattle the northern section of Japan, scaring some residents scarred by the events those 8 months ago. Traces of radioactive cesium have been identified at many food processing plants and any foods with above-normal levels are removed from processing to prevent contamination outside the danger zones. Due to the rising costs to repair that section of the country, there has been rumors that a “disaster tax” will be imposed on citizens during the next fiscal year.
Thailand
One country really feeling some pain right now is Thailand. The country is currently facing massive flash floods during this unusual monsoon season. Many risk-prone areas have fallen deep underwater as flood waters rise at abnormal rates. Many public health officials are faced with taking care of the thousands of people experiencing diseases floating around the waters while emergency workers try to save anyone they can from flooded homes. Thailand is a large supplier to the United States of hard drives for computers. Over the past 3 months, the price of computer hard drives world-wide has jumped nearly 50% as the manufacturing plants need to shut down all across Thailand. Groups of people organized quickly to make sandbags to hold back all the water, but with the countless feet of rain that have fallen in the many regions, preventative efforts continue to be strained.
Pakistan
Pakistan has also received its fair share of rain and unusual weather recently. This is the second year in a row that torrential rains came and disrupted the lives of millions of people. Things like safe-drinking water, food, and shelter have become hard to find in the country. The United Nations has participated in many ways to provide for the people, but the large area that has been affected is hard to take care of all at once. As some news sources have noted, this is the worst rain they’ve had since the 1930s, and most people are doing what they can to stay alive. The UN continues to provide for people as they can with the limited permissions set by the Pakistani government. Conflict in some regions of the country have limited the action that aid workers can perform due to safety issues.
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