Chapters 11/12 Country

Pakistan

Pakistan covers an area of 796,095 km² (307,374 sq mi), approximately equalling the combined land areas of France and the United Kingdom. It is the 36th largest nation. The geography of Pakistan is a blend of landscapes varying from plains to deserts, forests, hills, and plateaus ranging from the coastal areas of the Arabian Sea in the south to the mountains of the Karakoram range in the north. Pakistan is divided into three major geographic areas: the northern highlands; the Indus River plain; and the Balochistan Plateau. arid conditions existing in the coastal south, characterised by a monsoon season with frequent flooding rainfall and a dry season with significantly lesser to no rainfall. There are four distinct seasons; a cool, dry winter from December through February; a hot, dry spring from March through May; the summer rainy season or southwest monsoon period, from June through September; and the retreating monsoon period of October and November.

Despite being once listed as one of the most dangerous countries in the world by The Economist, tourism is still a growing industry in Pakistan because of its diverse cultures, peoples and landscapes. The variety of attractions ranges from the ruins of ancient civilizations such as mohenjo-daro, Harrapa and Taxila, to the Himalayan hill-stations, that attract those interested in field and winter sports. Pakistan also has five out of fourteen mountain peeks of height over 8,000 meters.

Population in Pakistan increased from 1990 to 2008 with 58 million and 54 % growth in population. The estimated population of Pakistan in 2010 was over 170 million making it the world's sixth most-populous country, behind Brazil and ahead of Bangladesh. In 1951 Pakistan had a population of 34 million. The population growth rate now stands at 1.6%. It is expected that by 2030, Pakistan will overtake Indonesia as the largest Muslim country in the world.

The majority of southern Pakistan's population live along the Indus River. By population size, Karachi is the largest city of Pakistan. In the northern half, most of the population live in an arc formed by the cities of Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Jhelum, Sargodha, Sheikhupura, Nowshera, Mardan, and Peshawar. About 20% of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.

Life expectancy at birth is 63 years for females and 62 years for males as of 2006 compared to the healthy life expectancy at birth which was 54 years for males and 52 years for females in 2003. Expenditure on health was at 2% of the GDP in 2006. The mortality below 5 was at 97 per 1,000 live births in 2006.

chapters 11/12

In chapter 11, the issue is poverty and it also discusses microcredit. Microcredit is a program that provides women who live in poverty with an oppertunity to create their own prosperity. There are many different organizations such as DiscoverHOpe that train women in entrepreneurship so those living in developing nations can shape their own lives.
Poverty in Pakistan has left millions in a situation where they live on two dollars a day or less; and that number is rising, there are one in every two children that live in poverty around the world. It is believed that gender inequality is to blame for these conditions, as well as a lack of education.

Issue 9/10

I decided to choose the topic of education as the issue for chapters 9 and 10. The issue of girls in schools came up quite frequently in chapter 10 and their was little to no motivation for females to go through school and become educated. In words of many people, why should women go to school and waste their time if they are going to hoe fields? In chapter 10 the chapter starts out following a newly married couple from China in the 1980's. The parents dropped out of elementary school and were barely literate. The fee was $13 a year and seemed like a waste of money. In their minds, it could go to some things that are so much better, like rice and food. On the girls first day of school, she couldn't afford basic supplies and was very nervous. The teachers were helpful and gave Dai Manju scraps of paper and old pencil bits. Because this girls story was written by the authors, they were given $10,000 to pay for Dai Manju's education and the school used it for every student and even wanted to build a new school. However, the bank, Morgan Guaranty Trust company made an error and the sympathetic person who donated, meant to only give $100, not $10,000. However, when things turned awful and it seemed that the money would be taken back, the bank owned up and donated the difference so that they did not have to force children to drop out of schools. Because of all the scholarships funded by Morgan Guaranty, many other girls on the hillside had also enjoyed an unusual spurt in education and had found jobs in factories. The power of education is important and by just one simple person helping out, it changed many, many people.

summary chapt 9/10

In chapter 9 of Half the Sky, the subject was centered around Islam and woman's rights. It begins by describing a man's trip to Afghanistan and the conversations he had with the Muslim women along the way. He spoke to them about their rights and how they felt about them. They told him stories of their life and they discussed evryone's feelings towards women. The chapter talked about different slants on religion and how the Koran explicitly endorses some gender discrimination: A woman's testimony counts only half as much as a man's, and a daughter inherits only half as much as a son. (p.151) The chapter told the story of an educated woman who was told to marry her cousin but she did not want to, shew didn't like the job he had andd wanted to continue with her education. Herr family beat her and her sister who followed in her footsteps. This section also brought up the topic of the amount of violence that men in the area posses. They are brought up learning that in orderr to get what you want, you havee to act out and be violent. At the end of the chapter, it was said that in general, the best clue to a nation's growth and development potential is the status and role of the women in the country.

Chapter 10 was about education in women. It was said that many of the women in China do not continue their education past elementary school. It told the story of a young girl who was told to drop out of school in order to help around the house because she was the oldest child in the family. Someone donated $10,000 to her so that she could finish her schooling. This money helped not only her, but all the young women in the area that coldn't afford schooling. It also built a new school.

US Response Investigator

In Chapter 10 the organization FemCare, which is accompanied by Proctor & Gamble started their own project by distributing free pads in Africa, helping girls manage menstruation health. The goal was to find a way of getting more girls to attend high school. In Africa, girls typically reuse old rags during their period, which is unhealthy and can lead to sickness. The girls also try avoiding being embarrassed so they usually stay home until their time is over. FemCare took action, but when they did they ran into a problem while distributing pads to the girls in Africa. The girls needed a place to change their pads and clean up. Many of the schools didn’t have toilets, so FemCare decided to build toilets with running water. FemCare also built and installed small sealed incinerators near the new bathrooms. In some parts of Africa, it’s believed that one’s blood can be used to cast a spell, so the girls would fear to leave their bloody pads exposed. FemCare then took another step forward by teaching the school teachers how to literally burn the pads. In the future, FemCare plans on sending doctors and nurses to Africa four times a year to provide education on health problems, health education in general and to continue distributing pads. The mission involves a five year commitment to expand and continue the program in Africa. The program is giving the company of Proctor & Gamble the license to operate in Africa for all of its products. FemCare has also worked with a non-profit organization called, The Girl Child Network, giving pads to schoolgirls in Kenya as well.