* Team Name
Anima Orbis
* Team Email Address (Email will be used for
team communication with/by the U.S. Fund
for UNICEF):
10RashmiS@students.harker.org
Team Members
First Name
Last Name
Email address
Nathaniel
Kelsey
Andrea
Rashmi
Edwards
Hilbrich
Lincoln
Sharma
10NathanielE@students.harker.org
10KelseyH@students.harker.org
10AndreaL@students.harker.org
10RashmiS@students.harker.org
Gender
(M/F)
M
F
F
F
School / Organization
The Harker School
The Harker School
The Harker School
The Harker School
Date of Birth
(YYYY-MMDD)
1993-05-06
1992-09-06
1992-05-10
1992-04-27
2) G8 Summit agenda issues
Focusing on selected G8 agenda topics, describe two ways you would recommend to G8
leaders to solve each problem. Please write up to 300 words to describe two ideas for
each topic below.
A. The Environment and Climate Change
Describe two ideas for ways G8 countries can achieve sustainable and efficient
energy supply, energy consumption reduction and other measures to curb global
warming and better protect the integrity of the environment. (Maximum 300
words.)
Developed nations need to reduce their carbon footprint or risk increasing the rate
and detrimental effects of global warming. Some scientifically sound, feasible ideas that
G8 countries should support include reducing the number of redundant and costly
streetlights in urban and suburban areas; proposing the widespread use of a feed additive
to cut down the amount of atmosphere-destroying methane from bovine sources by 5 to
25%; and developing a strong carbon sequestration program using terra preta or carboncement incorporation techniques to make both farms and industrial buildings more
nature-friendly. Large-scale adoption of any one of these solutions could help
significantly inhibit global warming.
Developing nations need to adapt to global warming more than they need to adopt
new policies to fight it. Thus, the G8 countries should support the establishment of local
“global warming committees” in rural areas in developing countries, encouraging female
participation since men are typically occupied with field work outside the community.
The groups would interview each family in the village, asking about the water levels in
rivers or lakes, the number of meals a day, and other aspects of life commonly affected
by global warming. The perceptions and data collected would be recorded using a simple
visual analog scale, a vital aspect to the program that would allow the illiterate to keep
archives of the information. They could then propose solutions based on the assessment
of the damage, such as the creation of grain storage facilities to prevent food shortages
during droughts or floods; the formulation of effective evacuation plans for dangerous
climatic conditions; and new, non-traditional changes such as fishing instead of farming
during rainy periods. Such a program could lead developing countries toward a way of
life that empowers all parts of the community to help adapt to the inevitable effects of
global warming.
B. HIV and AIDS
Infectious diseases such as HIV and AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis are a major
burden on the health and productivity of people – particularly children - in many
low-income countries. Describe two measures to help curb one or more diseases
that can be undertaken by G8 leaders. (Maximum 300 words.)
HIV/AIDS affects tens of millions of people worldwide, and immediate action
needs to be taken to inhibit the spread of this disease. To succeed against HIV/AIDS
where other good-intentioned plans have failed, the G8 countries must take into account
programs that have proven themselves triumphant as they consider a future course of
action. One way to help hard-hit countries like Botswana, which has a 23.9% infection
rate, would be to implement the ABC (abstinence, be faithful, and use condoms) program
that achieved strong results in Uganda. This program entails offering condoms to infected
people instead of proposing the drastic measure of male circumcision; expanding existing
care and treatment programs such as Community Home-based Care (CHBC), Voluntary
Counseling and Testing (VCT), and Antiretroviral Therapy (ARVT); and offering
education about AIDS through posters, pamphlets, radio segments, and other forms of
media. To truly curb the spread of HIV/AIDS, G8 countries should provide structure for
women, a group commonly left out due to cultural barriers, to become educated, gain
rights, and create women’s groups.
In order to curb the rampant spread of infectious diseases, G8 countries should
support programs which provide rural communities with one or two cell phones. Such
technology would allow the communities to contact nearby health centers, which would
give epidemic-modeling organizations such as the World Health Organization a more
accurate depiction of how, why, and where diseases are spreading. Information such as
the location of an outbreak and the occupations, ages, genders, and numbers of sick could
be shared with clinics for analysis. The clinics would then be able to offer treatment
suggestions and information on how to avoid further contamination and determine
whether vaccination incursions are necessary. This system would permit remote villages
to contact health organizations to monitor an outbreak and to provide aid during it.
C. A third topic of your choosing
Every year, the leaders at the G8 Summit discuss the world’s most pressing issues,
of which there are many. Topics could include the financial crisis, the global food
crisis, education, etc. Please identify a global issue you feel is particularly
relevant to your team and to young people around the world and describe a
response that you think G8 leaders should support. (Maximum 300 words.)
A lack of the freely available, equal-opportunity primary schooling promised by
UN Millennium Goal 2 plagues many developing nations across the world, limiting the
potential of future generations and perpetuating an unacceptable cycle of ignorance.
Free High School Science Texts (FHSST), a program that has proven itself
successful in making understandable and affordable textbooks available throughout South
Africa, entails encouraging secondary school students to write science textbooks based on
lecture notes. Another promising program, the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) movement,
would give thousands of children in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern
Asia unprecedented access to educational materials if supported on a large scale basis,
thereby promoting literacy in both digital and printed form. G8 countries’ encouragement
of a strong combination of these two programs could result in markedly increased
educational opportunities. Expanding the FHSST to include all subjects, making use of
translation software, and keeping the student-made textbooks on the network created by
OLPC laptops would offer students access to a stronghold of knowledge, improving the
quality of education in developing nations.
Many students, often female, miss school because they are burdened with tasks
vital for their family’s survival during the day. Solar-powered LED lamps are less
expensive than maintaining kerosene lamps for a year and are fifty times brighter than
kerosene lamps. G8 countries’ encouragement of a "night school" arrangement to let
chore-laden children attend more classes per week would give more children in more
places the chance to learn. Sponsorship of programs providing families of strong students
with LED lamps would open up hours of extra study time for those students. Promising
students need to be given the opportunity to study whenever possible and wherever they
live.
3) References
British Broadcasting Corporation. “Country Profile: Botswana.” BBC News. 7 Nov. 2008.
British Broadcasting Corporation. 2 Apr. 2009 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/
country_profiles/1068674.stm>.
Casselman, Anne. “Special Report: Inspired by Ancient Amazonians, a Plan to Convert
Trash into Environmental Treasure.” Scientific American 15 May 2007. 25 Mar.
2009 <http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=pyrolyisis-terra-preta-couldeliminate-garbage-generate-oil-carbon-sequestration>.
Central Intelligence Agency. “Country Comparisons-HIV/AIDS-Adult Prevalence Rate.”
Central Intelligence Agency: The World Factbook. 19 Mar. 2009. Central
Intelligence Agency. 2 Apr. 2009 <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/rankorder/2155rank.html>.
Fogelberg, Kate. “Not as Easy as ‘ABC’: Uganda’s Approach to HIV/AIDS and
Implications for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDSA Relief.” Michigan
Journal of Public Affairs 2 (Summer 2005): 1-11. 2 Apr. 2009
<http://www.mjpa.umich.edu/articles/Archive/2005/Fogelberg%20%20MJPA%20V2%20Final.pdf>.
“Lighting Up the World.” The Economist 23 Sept. 2006: 27. ProQuest Platinum.
ProQuest. The Harker School Lib., San Jose, CA. 2 Apr. 2009
<http://proquest.umi.com/login>.
Lipp, Erin K., Anwar Huq, and Rita R. Colwell. “Effects of Global Climate on Infectious
Disease: the Cholera Model.” Clinical Microbiology Reviews 15.4 (2002): 757-70.
Clinical Microbiology Reviews. Jan. 2009. American Society for Microbiology. 2
Apr. 2009 <http://cmr.asm.org/cgi/content/full/15/4/757>.
McGray, Heather, and Haresh Bhojwani. Adaptation 101: How climate change hurts poor
communities—and how we can help. Boston: Oxfam, 2008. Oxfam America.
2009. Oxfam International. 29 Mar. 2009 <http://www.oxfamamerica.org/
newsandpublications/publications/briefing_papers/adaptation-101/Adaptation101.pdf>.
Patanjali, Prem Chand. Development of Women Education in India. New Delhi: Shree ,
2005.
Rho, Young-Ah, Larry S. Liebovitch, and Ira B. Schwartz. “Dynamical Response of
Multi-Patch, Flux-Based Models to the Input of Infected People: Epidemic
Response to Initiated Events.” Physics Letters A 372.20 (2007): 5017-25. Science
Direct. Elsevier. The Harker School Lib., San Jose, CA. 2 Apr. 2009
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/>.
Sidana, Anna, and Amy DeBlaise Kasai. One Million Lights. 2008. World of Color. 2
Apr. 2009 <http://www.onemillionlights.org/>.
Simone, Renata, et al., dirs. The Age of Aids. Frontline. PBS. PBS, KQED. 30 May 2006.
Frontline. 30 May 2006. PBS. 18 Mar. 2009
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02p6b&c
ontinuous=1>.
Tennenbaum, Stephen. “Simple Criteria for Finding (Nearly) Optimal Vaccination
Strategies.” Journal of Theoretical Biology 250.4 (2007): 673-83. Science Direct.
Elsevier. The Harker School Lib., San Jose, CA. 2 Apr. 2009
<http://www.sciencedirect.com>.
United Nations. “Botswana.” The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. 2009.
UNAIDS. 2 Apr. 2009 <http://www.unaids.org/en/CountryResponses/Countries/
botswana.asp>.
United States Agency for International Development. “USAID Health: HIV/AIDS,
Countries, Botswana.” U. S. Agency for International Development. 2 Apr. 2009.
2 Apr. 2009 <http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/aids/Countries/
africa/botswana.html>.
VentureBeat. Calera. Ed. RubyRed Labs and Evan Levelle. 29 Mar. 2009
<http://venturebeat.com/2007/10/05/calera-pulls-carbon-dioxide-out-ofatmosphere-to-produce-cement/>.
World Health Organization. “Cholera.” World Health Organization. 2009. 2 Apr. 2009
<http://www.who.int/topics/cholera/en/>.
- - -. “WHO Country Cooperation Strategy: Botswana.” World Health Organization. 2009.
2 Apr. 2009 <http://www.who.int/countryfocus/cooperation_strategy/
ccs_bwa_en.pdf>.
“Worldchanging: Bright Green.” World Changing. Ed. Alex Steffen, Julia Levitt, and
Sarah Kuck. 25 Mar. 2009 <http://worldchanging.com/>.
5) Mobilizing others
The Junior 8 Summit is one event in a wider UNICEF strategy to connect and assist
communities of young people in their efforts to make the world a better place. If you
were able to attend the Summit, how would you inspire other young people to become
involved in global issues in your community upon your return? (Maximum 500 words.)
The closely knit Harker community that we are a part of would be an excellent
starting-point with which to inspire and encourage other youth in our community. We can
take advantage of the many resources at our school to publish our ideas through print
media. Kelsey and Rashmi are in the Cum Laude society at our school, which will be
publishing a compilation of outstanding work from the students in our school that will be
distributed school-wide. We will enter the various teams’ J8 essays into this publication
to share our thoughts regarding world issues with the rest of the Harker student body. We
will also seek to have the essays published in The Harker News, which is sent to parents
and alumni, to further inspire our graduates and the adults of our community.
If we are selected for the J8 Summit, we can use our power as children to further
motivate people to action. The Harker community embraces students’ ideas regarding
current events and supports increasing awareness of global concerns at our school. The
2007 winning team, which was from Harker, was applauded for its hard work at the
summit and was met with avid interest in its ideas. Our school already has the
infrastructure and enthusiasm that Anima Orbis can take advantage of to mobilize the
Harker community with our ideas and our experiences at the summit. We will hold a
school assembly regarding the J8 competition, the summit, the ideas discussed at the
summit, and the key parts of the J8 declaration. An emphasis on what the student body
can do to make a difference, as individuals and as a school community, will motivate the
students to take immediate action.
Rashmi and Nathaniel are active members of the Global Empowerment and
Outreach Club (GEO) at our school. The club focuses on educating the student body
about the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and on how we can help
narrow the gap between the status quo and the target. We will use this focus to gear the
club’s existing school-wide activities towards the topics and solutions that we will learn
about at the summit.
Holding rallies in which motivated youth can gather and discuss ideas can also
mobilize the youth in our area. With the help of GEO and other internationally-minded
clubs at our school, we could set up these rallies at Harker to reach out to several schools
in the Bay Area. The focus of these rallies would be an exchange of ideas, including
strategies for raising money to donate to charities, perceptions of dominant world issues,
opinions regarding J8 themes and issues, and ideas for other initiatives to help make the
world a better place. Given how much J8 has grown in our school from the one team who
won the competition two years ago, spreading the word about J8 would encourage
children across the Bay Area to consider taking immediate action through this
competition.