WWW.GUlLFORDIAN.COM
WORLD & NATION
Children pick up slack in Kyrgyzstan mines
Sari Schutrum-Boward | StaffWriter
Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, coun
tries such as Kyrgyzstan have not managed to
recover. Some villages only hope for economic
survival is to pull their yoimg boys out of
school to work in Kyrgyz coal mines.
The coal mines were abandoned during
Soviet Union, however after it fell Kyrgyzstan
was left with a crumbling economy and no
answers. After the government failed to restore
the economy, the civilians took this problem
into there own hands.
Civilians dug out the mines without per
mission from the government, but were often
difficult to work in and too narrow for adults.
So, fathers started taking their sons to work to
help earn their family's income.
"People are taking their children out of
schools and sending them to work at mines,"
said Zulfia, a miner's window, to BBC News.
"There is simply no other way to make money
here."
Zulfia's husband died when he was trying
to rescue two little boys trapped inside a mine.
He was only able to save one child and died
with the other boy. After her husband died, the
workers at the mine offered her son her late
husband's job.
"Of course I won't let him do this, because I
know what the price is, but other people do,"
said Zulfia. "We are just so desperate here."
BBC News visited Kyrgyzstan's coal mines
and reported, "Locals say the government
refuses to acknowledge the problem. Officially
these (problems) may not even exist. Yet we
saw them at every coal mine we visited."
No one is sure how many children are
BLOG.UKRAINE.INFO
Children have replaced these adult miners in Kyrgyzstan.
Sex Ed
working in the coal mines. The children work
all year round, no matter in what kind of
weather.
One townsman, Nurbek, said to BBC News,
"Sometimes in the winter the caves get flood
ed, and people have to dive in and swim to the
end of the cave to bring a pump and get water
out."
BBC News talked to one little boy, Kylych,
who has been placed in a position to support
his family with income. He makes a small
amount of $3 USD a day. He works in the mines
in the mountains of southern Kyrgyzstan. He
has seen what many others do not have to
encounter. He has witnessed his friend's death
and he experienced being trapped in a mine.
"Td rather go to school, of course, but I need
to help the family," said Kylych.
The people in Kyrgyzstan are afraid to
ask for help from the government because
the economy could become worse. Nurjamal
Mambetova, creator of a local non-profit orga
nization, has been trying to find a solution to
the main problem.
"We worry that they will close down the
mines, or blow them up, and that won't solve
the problem," said Mambetova. "People will
just start going back to them and digging
again because they have no other way to sur
vive."
Like many children the little miners have
dreams too and can see past their current cir
cumstances.
One child miner, Uluk says, "When I grow
up I want to become a policeman, so that I can
catch thieves and protect children."
CONTINUED FROM PAGE I
talking about sex much harder."
N. N. Nayar, the principal
of APJ school near the city of
Mumbai, said to BBC News that
the school was ordered to edu
cate children about "social evils,"
such as premarital sex, homo
sexuality and promiscuity.
"Our endeavor is to make chil
dren aware of these evils such as
drug addiction, alcoholism and
other dangerous things," said
Nayar to BBC News. "I am of
the opinion that sex education
by itself is not important, what is,
important is a holistic approach
to the issue of social evils."
He went on to say that most
children are already aware of
these issues through television
and the Internet.
"It doesn't matter whether we
tell our girl child to be careful and
not mingle with strangers," said
Nayar. "She already knows she
should not do it."
Gandhi said that the main
problem is that the parents don't
want their kids to be exposed to
sex because they think it would
cause them to be more interested
in experimentation.
"Parents do hot accept sex edu
cation because they never had it
when growing up," said Gandhi.
"It can only start being accept
ed in schools when the parents
themselves are educated. This
issue needs more advertisement
and positive publicity so they can
learn about the positive effects it
can cause."
BBC News reports that Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a
right-wing Hindu association,
blames "a Western mindset
behind the move."
"We run about 26,000 schools
across the country. Our teachers
have studied the curriculum and
they find it obscene and objection
able," said RSS spokesman Ram
Madhav. "The whole curriculum
is designed to suit the lifestyle in
Western countries, where there is
a general free atmosphere. In our
country we live with families."
Even though many think that
sex education will corrupt Indian
youth, others, specifically those
who are appalled at the increased
AIDS infection, believe that sex
education could help with pre
vention attempts.
"Sex education is definitely
one of the most critical aspects
of reducing the spread of AIDS,"
said senior David Norton, who is
one of this years' project coordi
nators for the AIDS Fellowship.
"Research shows that compre
hensive sex education programs
do not result in increased sexual
activity, and if anything it reduces
harmful activities," said Kathy
Tritschler, professor of sports
studies, who also teaches sex edu
cation.
Norton agrees and said that
"Countries that have switched
from abstinence education to
comprehensive sex education
policies have a decrease of HIV
positive cases."
"India is a country of about two
billion people and there needs
to be sex education in order to
prevent over population and the
WASHINGTONPOST.COM
With two billion people, India faces a serious AIDS problem if left unchecked.
spread of sexually transmitted
diseases," said Gandhi.
Norton said that not only does
sex education play a large role in
the prevention of HIV, but it is
also crucial to the treatment of the
disease.
"It is always very important
when someone gets diagnosed
with HIV for them to be educated
about the disease," said Norton.
"Further education can provide
them with ways in which they
can stop the spread of the disease
and ways in which they can treat
themselves."
The RSS has a completely
opposing view on the issue.
"Giving sex education on the
pretext that India has a large
number of AIDS patients is illogi
cal," said Madhav.
Instead, he favors the sheltering
of children by organizing work
shops for AIDS awareness strictly
for adults, so they can realize the
consequences of leading a "pro
miscuous" life.
Even though many are lobbying
for sex education in the hope to
decrease cases of AIDS, there are a
multitude of additional benefits to
keep in mind.
"Overall, sex education can
improve your relationships with
other people," said Tritschler.
"Once you understand that sexual
ity is part of who you are a human
being then you can understand
what you want to do with that sex
ual drive and what is meaningful
for you. Through education you
will be able to determine whether
it is worth the risks.
Midwest floods
Damage estimated in millions
Tim May | Staff Writer
On Aug. 23, 37-year-old Jered
Lorenz was thrown from his two-
door Grand Prix by harsh winds in
Lewiston, Minnesota. His car was
found upside-down next to Rush
Creek with the front bumper tom
off and the license plate mined.
According to Fox News, Lorenz
was discovered by the Winona
County Dive Rescue Team four
miles away from his car, tangled
in a tree.
Russ Marsolek, the team leader,
said to the West Central Tribune
(Minn.), "It appeared the car was
driving on a gravel road when it
crossed a bridge over the creek
and was swept away."
All of last week, the Midwest
was stmck with violent storms.
Roads were flooded, schools were
cancelled, and people were picked
up by rescue boats to escape their
flooded homes.
"A preliminary survey by
the American Red Cross in
Minnesota identified about 4, 200
affected homes," said Kris Eide,
Miimesota's director of homeland
security, to MSNBC.
The floods resulted from two
different storms: one in the upper
Midwest, and the other being the
remains of Tropical Storm Erin.
Fox News reported that winds
in Des Moines, Iowa destroyed
buildings, cut off power, and left
roads and homes submerged.
In Mansfield, Ohio, the U.S.
Postal Service halted mail deliv
ery. Thirty postal vehicles were
trapped underwater, but no mail
was destroyed.
According to CNN News, the
lethal combination of the two
storms resulted in millions of dol
lars in damages, and 22 deaths.
Despite seemingly constant
flooding from violent storms in the
Midwest since May, there hasn't
been much discussion about these
events on a national level.
"Kansas has been flooding all
summer," said Senior Courtney
Hutchison of Lawrence, Kansas.
"It was substantial. People had to
move out of their homes."
According to the Kansas
National Education Association
(KNEA), the storms in May
destroyed houses and damaged
farms in southwest Kansas.
Twenty-five-year-old A.J. Bryce
of St. Louis, Missouri, had expe
rienced one of the worst storms
in Missouri's history in July 2006
that wiped out St. Louis' power for
three days.
"The mayor of St. Louis called it
a national emergency," said Bryce
in an interview. "It was called an
inland hurricane, and the wind
was 70 mph. It was creepy because
we didn't live close to the ocean."
"It's crazy that no one has heard
of it," said Bryce. "St. Louis is a
big city, but it's caught in associa
tion with the Midwest and people
don't care."