All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

The New Old Wafd

Nervana

Egypt’s oldest nationalist party, the Wafd Party, is facing a deep and challenging internal conflict. Despite intervention by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a new internal election, and a formal announcement that the crisis is over, the party’s internal problems are unlikely to heal soon.

On the surface, the party appears to be divided between two camps. The first is led by party leader El-Sayid El-Badawy, while the second supports leading member, Fouad Badrawy, who hails from a family with strong Wafd roots.

Badrawy lost by a small margin in the party’s leadership elections in April, 2014. He received 956 of the votes, while current leader, Badawy, received 1,183. Earlier this month, following a decision by over 1,000 members to withdraw confidence in Badawy, the current leadership suspended Badrawy and seven other members of the party’s high board. Together the suspended members refer to themselves as the Wafd’s Reform Front…

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ASIA/INDIA – Street dentists for the poor: a widespread service

Bangalore – A group of non-specialized dentists have organized themselves to work on the streets in some small Indian cities offering very low rates for the poorest people. Ignoring noisy buses and curious onlookers, these street dentists carry out their work undisturbed in Bangladore, although this is not hygienic. There are millions of poor people in the Country who cannot pay for expensive dental treatment. Tools are thoroughly washed in soap and water – but not disinfected. The teeth in all shapes and sizes are made in China and in India from dental cement.
In big cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai, street dentist numbers have dwindled in recent years on growing awareness of contracting HIV/AIDS and other diseases, rising customer income levels, and a surge in dentist graduates. But they still thrive in smaller cities as well as towns, although few perform root canals, fillings or other operations. The Indian Dental Association, a private body of licensed dentists, still does not have figures on qualified dentists in India. It is estimated that each year 30,000 graduates join the profession every year, but India still has only one dentist per 10,000 people in urban areas and about 250,000 in rural areas.
From dentists to shoe shiners, barbers and chefs, street services are an engrained part of life in India, particularly for the poor.

via ASIA/INDIA – Street dentists for the poor: a widespread service.

Evicted under the World Bank’s Watch

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Forcible demolition of 34 Watta homes when court case was ongoing, September 2014. Photograph by Selvaraj Rajasegar.

“We were removed from our homes by force. The Army officers told us that they will bulldoze our houses whether we move out or not. They told us that we can either take these apartments or live on the street”.

via Evicted under the World Bank’s Watch.

‘Low-carb diets are crazy’: a master baker shares his secrets for making and eating bread | Life and style | The Guardian

“All the people, they can buy bread, a good piece of bread. Sometimes it’s a little more expensive but it’s not a lot. So when I go to a bakery and I see the morning that the homeless can buy our bread and they are happy to eat that, I’m just happy because I think you need to find a way [to feed all the people] and all the people need to be happy with that. So we have two different types of customer in our shop. It’s just beautiful.”

via ‘Low-carb diets are crazy’: a master baker shares his secrets for making and eating bread | Life and style | The Guardian.