The 234 Apartment

Claudia Angulo and her four children live in Orange Cove, California, a corner of Fresno County known for its citrus. She says when planes fly over the orange grove next to their apartment building and spray pesticides on the trees, she and her family experience headaches , exhaustion and difficulty breathing. But Angulo is concerned about an even more serious health problem in her 11-year-old son Isaac. When she was pregnant with him, she worked at a packing house, handling freshly picked citrus . After Isaac was born, Angulo says she noticed his development seemed slow and strange. “I saw that he didn’t play the same as other kids,” she says. “He didn’t learn the same.” She says his behavior was aggressive and antisocial. And she tells a story about the time he even threatened suicide — when he was only four years old. When he was five, a doctor diagnosed with him ADHD. Angulo says several other pregnant women she worked with at the packing house also had children who developed behav...

By Phillip Garjay Innis What lessons can African countries learn from Sierra Leone ’s devastating mudslides? Was the disaster due to natural events or is there a social dimension? Is there anything such as a ‘ natural disaster ’? What can be done to reduce risks? On August 14, 2017, torrential rainfall caused a hillside to collapse in Sierra Leone ’s capital city. This torrential downpour triggered mudslides that killed hundreds of residents and destroyed properties. As of August 19, 2017, the death toll is placed at 467, with approximately 600 still missing. Heavy rainfall is not a strange phenomenon in Sierra Leone . The country experiences heavy annual rainfall and is  ranked 12th globally  in annual precipitation by rainfall. Sierra Leone received  over 2,500 mm of rain from 2013 to 2017, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Sierra Leone is therefore familiar with heavy rainfall . Torrential downpours are common in August and September. The country has ...

Recycle. Reuse. Reduce. Reclaim. Cheryl Oliver is a true believer. Her husband, Jack, is not quite so sure. For Cheryl, there is no choice because she regards recycling as crucial for the survival of the planet. Jack said he gets it, but doesn’t think a few people can make any real difference. The house divided is a microcosm of communities when it comes to recycling. Cheryl believes everyone should do their part, while Jack believes that since not everyone is doing their part, why should he? “The problem with recycling is that most people don’t do it or won’t do it,” Jack said. “I think it’s mostly due to people being plain lazy.” Jack has a point – recycling takes more effort than just throwing everything into the same trash can. There are people who might recycle but don’t because they simply don’t know how. With paper, plastic, aluminum, metal and a myriad of other color-coded options for recyclable material, deciding where each thing should go can be troublesome. ...