Millennium Cities Initiative5
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An Inspirational Conversation with Two School2School "Alums"
I met this weekend with two beautiful Kumasi teens who participated in MCI’s School2School (S2S) exchange 16 months ago, when they were 14. Back then, in March 2009, 7th-graders from Washington DC’s Sidwell Friends School came to Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city and a Millennium City since 2006, to teach some of their peers about…
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Fostering 21st Century Learning in sub-Saharan Africa
The following is a guest blog, authored by Jim Teicher, Executive Director, CyberSmart! Africa. Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author in this blog do not represent the opinion of the Millennium Cities Initiative, the Earth Institute at Columbia University or any of its professional consultants. How can every school in Africa deliver a 21st-century…
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Saving Lives One Birth at a Time: Ghanaian Pediatricians Become Master Trainers in the AAP’s Helping Babies Breathe Curriculum
Every year, 10 million babies require help to breathe immediately after birth. Stimulating breathing by drying and rubbing the newborn and suctioning the baby’s mouth may be all that is needed to save a life. Although such life-saving care is readily available in the United States, in many poorer countries, it may be a distant reality…
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Columbia Planning Seminar on Accra, Ghana, Sparks Ideas to Further the City’s Development
Accra, Ghana, MCI’s newest Millennium City, presents a unique set of challenges in its quest to attain the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. With a population of well over three million, Accra has had to deal with public sector challenges typical of many urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa, including finding solutions to the many pressing…
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Gender based training in Ruhiira
The community sector carries out training workshops addressing gender issues two to three times per year. As part of our community sector rotation last week, we visited the homes of two couples, one of which had attended the training, one of which had not. Based on the day’s discussions with the field facilitators and visited…
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Improving Access to Safe Water and Sanitation in Kisumu, Kenya
Many families in developing countries, and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, do not have access to clean, safe drinking water. Proper sanitation facilities are also rare, particularly in informal settlements and peri-urban areas. Despite the valiant efforts by local and national governments, international NGOs, foundations and corporations to bring clean water and sanitation facilities to sub-Saharan…
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Changing Lives One Surgery at a Time: A Team of Urologists Makes an Impact in Kisumu, Kenya
Imagine living out in Western Kenya, suffering from a urological disorder, without access to an affordable specialist. That may be difficult for many of us to picture; unfortunately, that is the reality for hundreds of people living in Kisumu, Kenya, and the surrounding province. With only one urologist in the entire catchment area of five…
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MCI’s School2School Program Creates Mutually Beneficial Partnerships
Can students living continents apart learn from one another, using basic technology? The Millennium Cities School2School partnership program (S2S) is quickly proving that distance learning is not only possible, it is a wonderful way to enhance students’ academic skills and increase their knowledge of important global issues – while allowing them to learn about new…
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“The Water Table is Dry:” The Reality of Urban Development
Just a short week ago, MCI published a feature about a project carried out by the people of Nebar Ketema, a peri-urban neighborbood in Mekelle, Ethopia, who, with support from New York’s Community Lab, are bringing safe water through community action and a small grant to buy pipes and fittings, a water meter and cement.…
