Lack of Sanitation

     When you need to use the restroom, normally you just walk down the hallway or around the

corner in your home, but for some people that may not be the case.

Some of the biggest sanitation issues occur around the world in third world countries and still have

yet to be solved. Unclean water supply and trashed neighborhoods are the current living situations

and will remain that way unchanged. How much do we really know about other people's living

situation and if not what do we really have to complain about?

In Africa, there are several areas that raise a red flag when it comes

to sanitation. For example, in Ghana there are people who live in

 communities where they are forced to share public restrooms

because they don't have the luxury of going in their homes. Many

people do not have toilets of there own which is a big issue in Africa, and sharing these public

restrooms per community worsens an individuals hygiene. Aside from that, they don't have clean

water to drink from and have to walk around 60 Km to reach a safe drinking water supply. This

shortage of clean water reduces the chances that they will maintain a proper hygiene which remains a

severe sanitation hazard. Approximately 19,000 civilians die yearly from diarrhea due to the lack of

sanitation and zero drinking water. There are many other diseases that are accompanied because of

these issues. They don't have the access to safe drinking water and many civilians don't know

hygiene. STILL this remains an issue for Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Liberia and the list goes

 on.

In India, children as small as the age of 5 are

most affected and suffer from poor sanitation and

 are malnourished. Similar to Ghana, half of

India's population has communities that don't

 have there own toilet to use in their homes and

have to go outside in the open space. The

children are the ones that spend there time

outside the most and the air and water is contaminated. This leaves the community looking like and

smelling like one big sewer. The malnutrition is due to the bad living conditions that leads to a

number of illnesses, diseases, and bacterial infections. Diarrhea and worm infections is a common

result of the lack of sanitation and is a high mortality rate in India.

Now that we know a little about how other people suffer in terms of lack of sanitation, what would

our first world problems look like to them?

Valentine's Day Traditions Around the World

      Some people are used to the American traditions of Valentine's Day has to offer with

heart shaped chocolate candies and over sized stuffed bears, but not all traditions are alike.



In Denmark, the men do something quite different, much like a secret admirer game. It is known as

"gaekkebrev" that is a humorous letter that the men send to their Valentine. This letter often rhymes

and he signs it with dots leaving his name a mystery to his admirer. Once the woman receives the

letter it is up to her to guess who that person is. If she guesses correct then she is given an Easter egg

 possibly later in the year. They have a different

way of celebrating the holiday by making it a

guessing game rather than just giving gifts.



Now Japan and Korea share similar qualities with Valentine's Day, and it is split up into two days.

February 14 is a day dedicated only to the men where the women is the first to give a gift. On March

14 it is sort of different, in Japan the men give a gift to the women

 and this second date is otherwise known as "White Day." This

 name is said to be given back in the 1960's after a marshmallow

company coined the name. In addition to getting 1 gift, the man

returns the first gift he received on the first date and gives it back

 to the women making it 2 gifts. In Korea, "White Day" is

celebrated with the men declaring their feelings and

expressing their love for the women and this could be for

the first time. They have a third day set up for those who are not

romantically in a relationship called "Black Day" on April 14.

People have get together and dine with Jajang noodles that are give meaning to the name because of 

the black texture of the noodles.



In Scotland the atmosphere is more lively and they hold festivals or small parties for people to mingle

 and meet each other. These people are normally single and they have games that they play where

they write there names in a hat, one for the women and one for the men. They then draw out the


names from the men's hat first and then it's the

women's turn and they go from their. Once

everyone is picked, the pairs spend the rest of the

 day together giving each other gifts and getting

to know each other. The they have dances during

 the festivals and the couples can choose to stay

together after the holiday ends and possibly get

married along the road or more likely to never see each other again.



So as you can see, we are not the only ones that celebrate Valentine's Day with lovey dovy gestures.

Some countries have their own way of showing affection for their loved ones, even if it has a twist.

Different Methods of Parenting

      At the store you see a child throw themselves on the floor, yelling out loud for their parents

attention because they want the toy that's on the shelf, what should they do to calm them down? Some

 parents would spank there child and tell them "NO!" while others would cave in and just buy them

the toy to keep them from causing a scene, but would you get the same result anywhere else?


A lot of other countries have their own methods when it comes to dealing with a child's intolerable

 behavior. What it comes down to is cultural background and a persons own accustoms to generate

 their ideas of discipline.



In China, it has everything to do with Confucianism since it originated there to begin with. For the

 parents, this means that they are the children's guardians in every aspect of the childhood. They

emphasize how the parents have a huge responsibility in the first stages of their child whether it be

 education, or in every day life. There is a large amount of pressure and importance on the parents to

do well in raising their child to the best of their abilities. If the child grows up to be a complete shame

 to the family then the parents are considered to be failures because it was their job to guide them. So

the parents have high standards for the child to

do well and are often strict and have a set of

rules. There are two important times in the

 growth of a child. The first is called the 'age of

innocence' that is when a child has not fully

developed their common sense and still requires

their parents assistance. The mother is usually

the one to nurture the child with a tender and gentle hand. The child can not yet take in any

knowledge for themselves and needs to be supervised. As the child matures and is around the ages of

5 to 6  it becomes the 'age of understanding' when the parent steps up their game and have to be more

responsive about their child's behavior and hold them accountable for their

 actions.


Now moving down South East, India is a country full of culture and wisdom. They follow the ethics

of a popular set of beliefs which is Hinduism and use it to cement those teachings into their child's 

upbringing. Other more common religious ideas that you see within the families are Sikhism 

and Islam. Similar to the Chinese, it is also true that a child is easiest to mold when they are in the

 stage of obedience or 'age of innocence' and the parents play a vital role in creating that mold. 


Kinship is important and during a child's infancy it becomes even

 more evident with a mother's soft eyes. The mother is extra careful 

and is more attached to the baby then at any stage in terms 

of nurture. They keep their baby closer to their bodies and massage 

their heads softly. They acknowledge that children are able to take

 in so much at a young age and are quick learners. So they 

act on it by making sure that the child is taught right from wrong and is being guided. Usually the 

parents discipline their child physically often to make the child understand that they have done 

wrong and not repeat the same mistake



In Africa, generally there are a lot of differences depending on the region, but some information 

remains the same. A child is highly valued and considered to be a blessing in the eyes of the parents.

 It is a huge burden when partners aren't able to conceive a child so if they are able to, then that child 

is cherished and well received by the rest of the community. There is a large amount of respect for the

 elderly because of their wisdom and are taken as a book of knowledge. It is the children's job to learn

 from them about what is most important which is morals and culture. This can be represented in a 

saying 'the child is like a plant that must be nurtured while young  so it will grow strong and 

productive', There are expectations in each culture that the child must meet and it should be clear. In 

Nigeria a child that doesn't follow their parents culture or abandons it are most often disowned by the 

parents.


Readings:   https://www.babble.com/baby/child-rearing-around-world/

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

     You would have never guessed it...scars, small face features, and oh yeah surgical face bandages

are the makeup for some countries.

   
     Lipstick, eye-shadow, and contouring may be the beauty standards for women in America, but if

you take a look on the other side of the globe you may be surprised at what you'll find. In America

 the beauty standards are quite obvious and although the ceiling has been broken down a bit there are

 still expectations as to what beauty means. New trends which include having full lips, curves, and

fashion sense can be completely questionable to some Americans, but what is the norm for people

living on opposite ends of the world.

      Some say beauty is pain and in the Middle East that saying is a reality. In Iran women wear

surgical bandages on their face to tell a strong statement to society. It is a symbol of currency and

 their economic position as well as social status. It lets people know that they are willing to spend

those thousands of dollars, or in this case Iranian

Rial, to fix their imperfections. Sort of how

European women in the 1800s wore tower high

Whigs and powdered makeup that only the

wealthy women had, the higher the Whig the

more power you had. So with the bandages its

the same idea, that you are important and other people need to acknowledge that. It gives off the

impression that you are erasing your flaws to improve your appearance, hence becoming a better

version of yourself. Some women go as far as buying the tape itself without actually having gone

through facial reconstruction just so that people will think that they have, following the trend.

     Some other quick forms of beauty include the Japanese ways of having straight hair and

maintaining their faces young. France advertises thin and natural beauty for women that give off an

effortless look, that means not wearing a lot of makeup. Some people actually find it odd when they

see American women with pounds of makeup on their face. Nose rings, and henna tattoos are also

admired by Indian women and most of their standards are more traditional. Brides wear a red dot on

 their foreheads called Kumkum to make the women more appealing or only seen in festive events.

     Now similar to Iran's idea of beauty, Korea is well known as a plastic surgery capitol. It has a very

 strict and demanding view on what beauty should look like unlike anything that I have ever seen,

and that means under going drastic measures to reach those standards. One of which is having pale

completions, having light skin is pleasing to the eye and what you regularly see in both the men and

the women. Korean Soap Oprah's are a great example to this and is

 encouraged throughout media or the music industry.  There are also

 some rare restrictions to what a normal person should look like in

 order to be favored by society, it emphasizes more on the face.

Having a V-shaped face is one of those restrictions that is said to be

at least 17 cm in length with a rounded forehead. They also prefer

having small facial features like the lips, mouth, all with the exception of the eyes that need to be the

 largest portion of the face. Some other rare rules include having round foreheads,  high eyebrows

 that bring attention to the eyes making them larger then they may seem, or upturn noses. It all

resembles a look of innocence and Korea holds the highest number of cosmetic surgeries in the

world.