Troubled Nations Highlighted

Added: (Mon Feb 02 2009)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Troubled Nations Highlighted

“How many crimes need to be committed, how much evidence needs to be gathered, how much impunity will be given before the citizens in every country around the globe decide enough is enough?” writes Caryn West in her new book, The Trouble with the Alphabet: Through the Eyes of Innocence. “We need to care. We need to shake off our indifference, learn the facts and demand answers. Enough promises have been broken, and too many people continue to suffer.” Below are three of the 25 hot spots identified by Caryn. “Perhaps by calling greater attention to these causes we can work together and find a solution and to resolve these troubling issues,” she concludes.

Hot Spot #1 Guatemala
Guatemala City has one of the highest murder rates of women in the world. 70% of the population has had little or no formal education, 38% have no access to health care, and 80% of the arable land is in the hands of just 2% of the people. Guatemala is a country in need. Its women and children are being murdered, and rarely is anyone held accountable. Over 30 years of war and unrest, government instability, poverty, drugs and crime all factor into the overall conditions facing the people of Guatemala.

Hot Spot #2 Myanmar
For decades under a military dictatorship that uses mines against its own people, Myanmar was once a resource rich and economically promising nation. Now it’s one of the poorest countries in the world. Human rights violations are rampant. The military attacks and burns down villages, using civilians not only as forced labor, but also as human “mine sweepers.” The authorities steal food from families and prevent them from harvesting their own crops.

Hot Spot #3 Rwanda
In 1994, one hundred days of genocide killed 800,000 people, a murderous rampage that left over 95,000 orphaned children. Neighbors turned into killers. Ethnic differences determined life or death, innocence died, hatred exploded, and the future was forever changed for those left in its wake. Widespread rape was used as a strategy to change the ethnic balance. It’s estimated that between a quarter-to a half-million women and girls were raped in the hundred days of violence. Today, the effects of this crime against humanity are clear. AIDS is claiming more lives in staggering numbers. Mothers are dying, leaving their orphaned children to fend for themselves. Babies are born under death sentence in the form of the AIDS virus. The genocide of 1994 is still killing, more slowly, more quietly, but just as deadly.

“When people begin to read about and understand what is really going on across the globe, it is my hope they will join together in restoring health, safety, and sanity to the world,” says Caryn. “With peace, freedom, equality, and hope, we can make significant changes.”