After nearly a half century in power, the communist government in China is scouring the world for oil, natural gas, and minerals to keep its economic machine thriving. Its powerful trade deals are insufficient for solving the country’s water problems. According to the New York Times, China’s water usage has quintupled in the past 59 years, a statistic which leaves leaders and health organizations
with tough political choices as cities, industries, and farming simultaneously compete for a finite and shrinking water supply.

According to the Bank of China International and various government officials, over 400 cities and 13 provinces and regions, mostly in Northern China, face a water shortage problem. The issues of scarce and unsafe water are mounting so rapidly that they may cost China her sustained growth rate. The supply of water is inadequate to supply an astounding population of 1.3 billion, and as a result, water shortages are turning more and more Chinese farmland into desert. China is depleting water supplies
through industrial uses, consumer use, and pollution. Global warming is also blamed for a reduction in water resources.

China’s water crisis has placed enormous political pressure on the Communist party. The country’s economic success, ensured by the party, is putting the country’s health and lives at stake. The Communist party, leery of depending on imports to feed the country, has long insisted on grain self-sufficiency.

In the North China Plain, where half of the country’s wheat is produced, huge amounts of underground
water are consumed. The nation is left without simple options; restricting farming to protect the region’s aquifers would threaten the livelihoods of farmers and would cause an even greater spike in international grain prices.

Municipal and industrial dumping have nevertheless contributed to the destruction of China’s rivers, which were previously used to nourish agricultural growth. Water sources like the Yellow River are even drying up due to global warming’s harmful effects.

The Communist party is now faced with the urgent task of forcing the world’s most powerful economy to conserve and protect water. The water crisis is so widespread, that grave water sanitation-related issues are reported frequently. The most recent issue is the nation’s “virus-alert” status whereby approximately 3,000 children have been infected by the deadly Enterovirus 71, found in contaminated water.

Jim Yang, an 11th grader from Beijing, notes the prominence of China’s water crises. According to Jim, it is an issue that is nearly impossible to ignore and has had an impact on the daily lives of everyone as they implement strict water conservation measures on a daily basis.

“In China, the water’s not that clean, and the price is rising fast,” Jim said.

The brutal realization of the impact of water resource shortage has been that of an obvious curtailment of sustainable economic and social development. As a result, China will embark on an ambitious plan to divert water from the south to the drought-ridden north. China’s diversion project, the largest of its kind, was first suggested by former Chairman Mao Zedong 50 years ago and is only now beginning to take effect.

This massive diversion scheme has already taken 50 years from conception to commencement and is expected to take almost as long again to construct. Planned for completion in 2050, it will eventually divert 44.8 billion cubic meters of water. Some 3,000 Chinese children have been infected by the deadly Enterovirus 71, found in contaminated water.

However, the project, a costly $62 billion one, has been met with some skepticism among environmental organizations. While many agree that the project will provide a significant influx of water, they also say it will not be a cure-all.

In spite of the expectations, it is unclear as to how much clean water the project will actually deliver. The question of water quality and public health also remain as pollution problems are already arising and may just as well infect the northern area.

Cities and industry will be the beneficiaries of the new water, but the impact on farming is limited, seeing as little is being done to evenly distribute water for agricultural purposes. Thus, water deficits are expected to remain.

Many scientists believe that, if not by the diversion project, huge gains can still be reaped by better efficiency and conservation
methods. In north China, pilot projects are underway to reduce water loss from winter wheat crops. Some cities have raised the price of water to promote conservation, but it remains subsidized in most places, particularly for students and the urban poor. Already, some cities along the route of the transfer project are recoiling because of the planned higher prices.

Another water proposal would also be a more drastic plan of urbanization. Scientists say converting farmland into urban areas would save enough water to adequately sustain a significantly greater amount of the population since widespread farming still uses more water than urban areas.
Of course, large-scale urbanization, already under way, could worsen air quality and thus the quality
of the newly supplied water.

China’s water shortage is hindering its development. The country’s focus on fueling its leading
economy comes first on its agenda. However, government and health officials struggle to draw up solutions to a crisis that may overtake the gains in economic development.

Almost all of those in China, including Jim, are concerned with the future of their nation.
Jim added, “the price is rising fast; and probably in ten years there’s not going
to be any clean water left in Beijing. It’s a big problem.”

I’m a big fan of the “international experience.” It’s why I first applied to this school and it’s why I decided to host an ASSIST exchange student from Moldova, 11th grader Doina Chiselita, at my house for the second half of the school year. So when Doina began telling me about her Romanian Orthodox Easter traditions, it was immediately agreed that we would hold our own little Orthodox Easter here in DC.

I come from a completely non-religious family. In other words I haven’t been to church since baptism. Having gone to Catholic school, though, I know all the major principles of Christianity and Church history, so I had something to compare this experience with. I did not, however, know anything
about the Eastern Orthodox Church, let alone the Romanian Orthodox Church. After some research,
I found out that the Eastern Orthodox Church is divided into a number of autocephalous churches, meaning that they are governed by their own bishop or council of bishops.

These groups are usually based in one country or region, and are often divided into smaller sections themselves. The only time these churches really interact with one another is when, at least twice a year, all of the bishops of these churches gather to discuss the state of affairs, although their actions usually don’t affect the entire Church.

There are 14 of these autocephalous churches, one of them being the Romanian Orthodox Church. The main distinguishing factor is that the service is entirely in Romanian, but, because the Romanians never had Christianity imposed on them but instead independently changed, there are still many remnants of ancient pagan practices and traditions.

With that learned I felt prepared for the most infamous of Pastele practices: the fasting. It is traditional, Doina told me, to fast for the 40 days of Lent by essentially going vegan, meaning no meat, dairy, or eggs.

In modern days, however, many of Doina’s friends and family from her home country of Moldova abbreviate that time to a week or two before Easter, but just as many fast for the whole time. “As I have been taught [fasting] doesn’t have to be an imposed thing, like something you have to do for the sake of being Christian…Lent is something deeply spiritual and while you’re fasting you have to try to concentrate more on your spiritual needs, to think on your own actions and try to be better…it is a very personal experience,” remarked Doina.

Doina and I decided that we would be fasting the week before Easter. I began trying to find vegan recipes because I had no clue how it was even possible to eat without animal products, but I found out that it wasn’t as hard as I expected. During that time I felt as if I was purifying myself and I never felt tempted to break the fast. Going vegan wasn’t what I had expected either; as it turns out I had made it too complicated. I expected it to be a complicated balancing act of preparing offbeat foods, trying to get in protein and nutrients, but Doina showed me some of what her grandmother would make during fasting.

The recipes were simple, just vegetables like cabbage or potatoes, or maybe some rice with oil and peppers, but though they were simple, they somehow tasted so good. I was stunned. It didn’t mean fasting wasn’t work though. Instead of plopping together a sandwich for lunch or being lazy and deciding to buy, cooking had to be done for every meal. It was like I was in a time warp: gone was the world of instant gratification, and now I actually knew where my food came from and how it was made.

While cooking, Doina told me of collecting eggs at her grandmother’s farm or getting milk straight from the neighbor’s cows. In a strange way this was also very purifying, because as the food was simple and microwaves went untouched, life seemed more simple and my physical needs took second place to my spiritual ones.

On Saturday, Doina and I got up bright and early and took the bus to the grocery store. We came home exhausted from carrying heavy bags of food on our backs, but we went to work. It was like something out of “I Love Lucy:” Doina on the phone to Moldova with her mother, godmother and grandmother giving her different instructions all at the same time, then Doina giving me orders about what to chop, what ingredients to get out. We cooked all day, even calling the alarm company to get them to turn off the fire alarm in the kitchen until 11 PM so it wouldn’t go off while we were cooking.
At midnight, my mother drove us to a Romanian Orthodox Church in Alexandria, the only one in the area, where a mass of people were standing outside holding candles. The priest was giving some sort of speech, and when it was finished we processed around the tiny church along the highway. We then went inside to start the mass. The paintings on the wall were nothing like I had ever seen before. There were the apostles on a backdrop of light blue, and icons of saints continuing onto the ceiling. Doina said that the churches are usually bigger and even more beautiful, but this was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

The entire service was in Romanian, mostly sung by men parishioners at the front. Everyone was standing up, because, though there were chairs at this Church, most Orthodox Churches don’t have any. The service went in three cycles, each finishing with the priest walking around with incense, a certain song and a call and response of “Hristos a inviat: Adeverat ca inviat!,” or “Christ is risen: He is risen indeed!”

We then went to get rose oil on our head and a blessing by the priest, and those who had gone to confession were given a golden spoon of honey mixed with wine to represent the body and blood of Christ. A basket of small portions of our Easter meal was blessed with holy water, which we would then divide for everyone and eat before the meal to break the fast.

Though I couldn’t understand a word, I felt extremely happy and contented. And though I had been on my feet all day, the three hours standing up didn’t make me tired, but instead refreshed me. It was a strange phenomenon for me, but it was that moment I understood what Doina meant.

“It makes you happy inside,” she said. “If you get to experience that it’s amazing.”

We went home and went to bed. I love this aspect of the process, because when you go to sleep after a midnight mass, rather than focusing on what you’ll eat that day or who is coming over to celebrate, you are completely calm and focused on what is happening in church.

That day the Martins, the family Doina stayed with for the first half of the year, came over. The table was laden with traditional foods: jellied chicken, beet salads, rice and pork wrapped in grape leaves and pie, a braided bread topped with feta cheese. I was stunned when, after having spent an exhausting day cooking, Doina said that her mother and grandmother usually made more than this.
Also on the table were hard-boiled eggs dyed red. With these there was a little game, where each person would go around the table “earning their eggs” by smashing the other person’s egg with their own. At that moment it was the same as any Easter I’ve celebrated: a joyful celebration with family and friends.

This Easter celebration is totally different from the other experiences I have had. I found myself connected with a spirituality I never knew I had, experiencing traditions that had been practiced for centuries.

Many Americans aren’t religious and the nature of America is “what’s new, what’s better, what’s fast.” This is what many fall in love with about this country: the freedom to separate oneself from religion and tradition. I think it would be a good idea however for more Americans to experience a process of spirituality and tradition at least once.

When Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) fought for independence in its famous 1980 war, Robert Mugabe emerged as a hero. Having led the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) through a hard but successful struggle to gain independence for Zimbabwe, he was made the first prime minister, staying in this post for seven years and then running for president, winning the elections, in part, due to his image as a war hero. Since 1987, Robert Mugabe has led the nation, but his time in power has made Zimbabwe one of the poorest countries in the world, and Mugabe is considered by many to be dictator.

His strict, almost dictatorial rule caused many repercussions, especially from the western world. Travel bans have been levied on him by the European Union and the United States. UN inspectors considered the elections run during his time unfair on multiple occasions.

Despite this, since his days as prime minister in 1980-1987 and as president thereafter, he has never left office. More than 20 years later, it can not be said he has brought Zimbabwe peace and prosperity.

Parade Magazine releases its “The World’s Ten Worst Dictators” list every year. He frequents the list, and has been in the top 10 since 2004. But why is he considered a dictator? According to Parade, a “dictator is a head of state who exercises arbitrary authority over the lives of his citizens, [and] who cannot be removed from power through legal means.” In this case, it does apply to Mugabe.

Under his rule, the health of the average Zimbabwean has decreased dramatically. Average life expectancy is fewer than 36 years and the number of orphans is the highest in the world, at more than 25% of children. Eighty percent of working-class people are unemployed, according to the IMF and CIA.

To make matters worse, inflation is at a record high of 165,000%. Being a millionaire or a billionaire is necessary merely to survive. For short term relief, the government has released a new $50,000,000 Zimbabwean dollar bill. Protestors around the country parade around with photos saying: “Starving Billionaire.”

With the elections of 2008, it appeared Mugabe was going to lose. Csmonitor.com said there were multiple scandals in which he gave money and cars to medical and military personnel and randomly gave cars, tractors and computers to poor people so that they would vote for him. He also made more polling stations, but in specific areas. In the rural areas, where Mugabe’s party ZANU-PF is considered stronger, more polling stations were sited. In urban areas, there were multiple complaints that there were not enough of them.

Despite the fact that many people thought the elections were rigged, Mugabe denied this. “We are not in the habit of cheating. We don’t rig elections,” he said. He claimed his conscience would not have let him sleep if he had rigged the ballots.

On March 29, voting began. The process was peaceful, and most international voting assessments considered them fair. By March 31, official results were still not released, but the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the party opposing Mugabe, claimed victory.
Because there were elections for four important political positions at the same time, Zimbabwean officials blamed the delay on their ballot counters being overworked. Other countries found this delay “concerning.” British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (in other words, foreign minister) David Miliband urged the immediate release of the results.

Unofficial predictions conflicted, but most projected a loss by Mugabe. He, however, refused to leave office without official outcomes. Frustrations grew as time passed. Some crackdowns, apparently ordered by Mugabe, took place, including a raid and break-in of the opposing party’s hotel. Some foreign journalists were arrested.

In Zimbabwe, it is the law that first-round election results must be released within 21 days so that the second round can begin, but an extension was necessary. When there was an official court case disputing the delay, the MDC lawyers were barred from entering. As the electoral committee had still not released results, the people of Zimbabwe were growing increasingly anxious. The committee moved its headquarters but did not release any statistics. The MDC made a plea to the western world to sort out the crisis that was emerging and to remove Mugabe, as it became increasingly apparent
he had lost the elections. They also claimed that Mugabe would use violence to keep himself in power.
Mugabe blamed the electoral committee of tilting results in favor of the opposing parties and had some of them arrested. More and more violence emerged, including the raiding of some white-owned farms, and many whites left the country.

In Harare, the capital, the violence continued. There were stories and gruesome pictures released of men seriously beaten, and allegedly tortured with burning plastic and shot with guns in Harare Newscast. Evidence of more than 7,000 beating deaths have emerged. The main opposition leader of the MDC was beaten so badly he was taken into a hospital with a case of internal bleeding, according to MSNBC. Finally, an official release of the results on May 2 showed a loss by Mugabe, but he has still refused to leave office.

In the first few weeks of May, the international community was devastated by a pair of natural disasters that have already matched the vast scale of disaster of 2004’s Tsunami. On May 3, Cyclone Nargis hit Burma, geographically the largest country in Southeast Asia. A little more than a week later, on May 12, an earthquake struck the Sichuan region of central China.

According to Reuters, the cyclone may have killed up to 15,000 people since mid-May, with possibly 30,000 others still missing. These figures make this the second-deadliest recorded cyclone of all time, and the deadliest natural disaster ever to hit Burma. The United Nations estimates that the cyclone severely affected 1.5 million people, and that the death toll will probably reach 70,000, while the Red Cross’ official estimate is up to 128,000 deaths.

The storm developed in late April, and picked up strength, reaching peak winds of 215 km/h before hitting Burma. In the days following the disaster, Burmese authorities resisted aid before being pressured by world powers and the United Nations. The UN along with international forces such as the United States, Germany and Malaysia were quick to send aid. Recovery efforts were halted when a Red Cross ship carrying
necessary supplies sank. Numerous organizations followed the Red Cross as they helped deliver materials and made efforts to fix the situation.

One of Burma’s border countries, China, was also rocked by a terrible natural disaster. The Sichuan Earthquake hit a region in central China, with its epicenter being in Wenchuan County. However, major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and neighboring countries Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand also felt the earthquake, showing the magnitude of this disaster. As of mid-May, 17,000 have been confirmed dead, with over 65,000 injured and thousands more missing. Many of the dead were children trapped in their schools when the earthquake hit, making the child death toll quote elevated. A strong aftershock hit the area on May 24, leading to further misery.

Director of Global Initiatives and Service Learning, Kate Meenan-Waugh, who was in China at the time, said: “One thing to bear in mind when trying to grasp the horrific impact of these casualties, is that many are children, who were, because of the time of day the earthquake hit, in school and school buildings. China has a strict one-child policy and for most of the parents who lost a child, that is their only child…the loss of any child is horrific, but this is even more heartbreaking.”

The magnitude of the earthquake ranged from 7.5 to 8.0, and civilians reported continuous shaking for about three minutes. Recovery action was very rapid, as the UN, the European Union, and the Vatican City were quick to offer aid. Many other countries joined this effort, giving hope to the victims of the disaster.
Both disasters had tremendous repercussions around the world, and some were felt here in our school’s community, where some students have family in the areas affected.

Students reacted by creating fundraising projects. A group of 11th grade students held a bake sale days after the Burma disaster. Isabel Peñaranda, one of the organizers, was very happy with the bake sale. “It’s a very easy way to raise money quickly,” she said. The organizers baked different types of goods for the event, and raised over $500.

“We had an emotional connection with Burma because of the Buddhist Monks’ protest earlier this year,” added Isabel. She also noted the connection between this disaster and global warming: “it’s a wakeup call about the effects of global warming on the poorest nations in the world.”

“We chose to raise money for Burma because when we heard about the disaster, and learned about the casualties, we felt that we needed to do something about it, especially since the government was not doing much to help the victims,” said 11th grader Eliza Relman.

The group of 11th grade students held another bake sale last week, and plan to have at least one more. “We’re looking into having more of these similar events,” said Isabel.

The Chinese disaster also directly affected the school, as we have many people connected to the country. Eleventh grade ASSIST student Jim Yang was very touched by the Chinese disaster.

“My grandparents live really close to where the earthquake hit, so I was very worried about them,” said Jim. “My grandparents were taking a nap when the bed started shaking, so they ran outside to see what was happening. Then they realized that it was an earthquake. Luckily, they are all right. Now, thousands of people are buried, and I am hoping they can be rescued soon.”

This summer’s LearnServe China trip has also borne witness to this disaster. Head Librarian Pat Kyle and Ms. Meenan-Waugh were in China at the time of the earthquake. The two members of staff were scheduled to visit the Roots & Shoots organization of the Jane Goodall Institute in Chengdu, an area hit by the earthquake. However, due to the tragic circumstances, they could not make the trip, and were forced to stay in Beijing. LearnServe China participants were scheduled to visit Chengdu this summer, but because of the earthquake they will have to visit an area which was not affected.

Ms. Meenan-Waugh, however, remains confident about this summer’s trip, and wants the group to help as much as they can. “This whole effort will become the focus for the LearnServe China fundraisingefforts,” she said through email correspondence from China. “Unfortunately, and understandably, Roots & Shoots will not have the resources or carrying capacity to work with us in June. Of course, our natural impulse is to go in and help, but because of language issues and our own need for accommodation and resources, we would be more of a burden than assistance,” she added.“The People’s Liberation Army has put in thousands of soldiers to literally walk through mountain areas with supplies…recovery efforts are bleak at this point,” she continued. “Some people are reporting up to 2,400 aftershocks, felt in various places in Chengdu and surrounding suburbs. There are cracks in many of the buildings; some are still sleeping in streets for fear of being in buildings.”

She also mentioned the challenge faced by recovery workers to supply water to the affected areas. Forces are worried that stranded civilians deprived of water will drink contaminated water, resulting in even more casualties.

“One of the things Roots & Shoots Chengdu is doing right now is producing a flier,” she said, “to be distributed through streets that cautions people against drinking the water, letting people know where antibiotics and potable water are available.”

Moisés Naím, the editor of Foreign Policy magazine, wrote an article titled “Rogue Aid” a year ago. He wrote that his friend from the World Bank lost a deal with the Nigerian government to repair its crumbling railways to the Chinese government. The Bank’s offer of $5 million, with its typical list of conditions, could not match up with China’s offer of $9 billion, with no strings attached. After giving more examples, with the likes of Iran and Venezuela, and defending Western aid-providers, the author came to the conclusion this rouge aid would serve to “stifle real progress while hurting average citizens,” and if allowed to progress, those countries would “succeed in underwriting a world that is more corrupt, chaotic, and authoritarian.”

Fast forward a year later. I find myself in a similar conversation in the back of a SuperShuttle with an International Monetary Fund (IMF) employee who had just returned from Sudan on a mission trip. He told the same story, of how the Chinese were flushing the Sudanese government with lots of cash and very few questions. However, he had a different take on the issue. He views the Chinese generosity positively and he says that the accelerated growth in nations that have received help from other sources, such as the Chinese government, is evidence that these alternative measures can be more of a benefit than a detriment. It is hard for governments in developing nations to resist such an enticing option, considering that the alternative would be to adopt the 101 measures laid out by the IMF.

The West does not attempt to veil its mistrust of sovereign wealth funds in Asia and the Middle East, which have been investing heavily not only in developing nations, but also here in the US. Currently, Abu Dhabi tops the list of nations with the largest sovereign wealth funds. It is followed by Singapore, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and China. They have been accused of pushing the political agendas of their various governments.

As recent wars have disclosed, cash-flush nations have a particular fondness for non-renewable natural resources. It comes as no surprise, then, that China is making fast friends with resource-rich African nations. In fact, the Chinese have taken this friendship a step further by actively migrating to African nations and intermarrying with the locals. The Singapore government has also set up a department to help Singaporean entrepreneurs invest in South Africa. These investors are not satisfied with being anonymous benefactors. They are there to stay and to make their presence felt.

So, if the desire for closer relations is mutual between Africa and Asia, then where is the problem? Darfur is the problem. Due to the political nature of such monetary aid, it is inevitable that the aid contributes to the propping up of ineffective governments. The Darfur genocide is a tragedy and a cause for concern among members of the international community. However, the strides that monetary aids from foreign governments have helped achieve should not be discounted in light of these events. As my friend from the IMF put it, a starving citizen in Sudan only cares for his next meal, something these foreign handouts have proven they can provide through development.

Forcing transparency onto sovereign wealth funds and effectively discouraging them from supporting harmful governments seems a less daunting task than ensuring that governments who receive aid from the Fund or Bank conform to the many conditions demanded. Governments in developing nations have also proven to be much more receptive to help from sovereign wealth funds than the Fund or Bank. Rogue aid it may be, but representatives from the various sovereign wealth funds have done something the Bank and Fund have rarely achieved–they have gained the invaluable trust and friendship of the nations they are providing aid to. These countries hold vital influence in regions that are often hostile to Western intervention
and should be courted as allies and not seen as foes.