Young and Discovering

Posted on July 5, 2011 by

Marshall Zhang, only a 16 year old high school student has already achieved what most scientist hope to achieve in their life time: a new drug to fight the battle against cystic fibrosis. He took the first place in the Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge for his new drug treatment plan.

Zhang has come up with a new drug combination to help fight against Cystic Fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis is an inherited disease of secretary glands, including the glands that make mucus and sweat. It causes a thick mucus build up in the lungs and blocks airways, making it difficult to breathe. The build-up of mucus also makes it easy for bacteria to grow. This leads to repeated, serious lung infections and may also cause digestion problems (source).

Zhang, at his mentor’s (Dr. Christine Bear) lab used the Canadian SCINET supercomputing network to come up with a potentially new way to treat the disease by combining 2 drugs that are already in use. He discovered that the two drugs can potentially be used at the same time for a combined effect. Zhang tested his theory on living cells and was surprised to learn that his hypothesis actually worked.”The cells treated with the two drugs were functioning as if they were the cells of healthy individuals,” says Zhang. “The thrill of knowing that I was on the forefront of current knowledge was absolutely the best thing about my experience … getting a taste of real research has definitely driven me towards pursuing science in the future” (source).

Zhang had picked up an interest in biology when he was placed in an advanced biology class in Grade 10. He decided he wanted a taste of real lab work. Zhang contacted the entire faculty of university of Toronto biochemistry department looking for lab work. He got rejected by almost everyone as he had no experience, but he did get a reply from one, his mentor, Dr. Bear.

Not only is Zhang’s discovery a possibly breakthrough on how to treat cystic fibrosis, it may have also opened door for new pharmaceutical methods. Dr. Christine Bear said in remarks to Zhang‘s discovery: “Zhang’s findings show that computational methods can drive the discovery of compounds that lay the groundwork for drug development” (source).

Marshall Zhang’s achievements show that it is not required for us to be highly experienced or have superior knowledge on the subject for us to be able to achieve success. We simply need a desire, and a drive to go for what we want to see happen, and the results we obtain might even end up surprising ourselves.

Aisha Shoaib
Blog writer 2011, Change Tomorrow’s world

Posted in Be Featured Here!, Health and Wellness, Innovation | Leave a comment

Arab Spring in Libya

Posted on July 5, 2011 by

The Libyan crisis persists after months of fighting. The group of revolutions in the Middle East now termed “Arab Spring” implied a new hope for democracy in the area. Though all governments resisted the movement, many eventually fell or agreed to restructure in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan. However, some governments like those of Syria and Libya continue to fight against the voice of the people.

In the case of Libya, citizens took to the streets in early February to show their disapproval of President Gaddafi’s government. Gaddafi has been president of Libya since 1969. Gaddafi’s dictatorship remained intact until the uprising in early February. Gaddafi moved quickly to stifle the opposition and was near success when the United Nations approved intervention. The UN authorized a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent Libyan military aircrafts (used to attack non-combatants) from flying.  (UN Security Council). According to the Geneva Conventions of which Libya is a signatory, harming non-combatants is not legal yet Gaddafi has done his best to squash the resistance by any means necessary including firing on non-combatants. The UN resolution also permits a force to fire on Libyan ground forces.

ICC prosecutors presented a case in hopes of issuing an arrest warrant for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and a spy chief Abdullah al-Sanoosi. The ICC also has a warrant out for Omar Al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity since March of 2009 and yet he continues to rule over Sudan and commit genocide. It is unclear how the ICC will go about arresting Gaddafi especially when Libya’s neighboring country Chad has stated it will not back the ICC and intervene (Sudan Tribune).

Currently, the US and NATO are waging war on Gaddafi’s government in the name of protecting civilians. Still, it is unknown what the exit strategy for this mission is and who will take over the country once Gaddafi is out.

Will an arrest warrant from the ICC prove effective? Does the immediate relief of citizens compensate for the lack of an exit plan? Sound off below!

By Jessie Ampofo

Blog Writer Summer 2011 , Change Tomorrow’s World 

Posted in DiscussionBoard, International Development | Leave a comment

Is It Okay To Keep a Child’s Gender Private?

Posted on June 2, 2011 by

An interesting article (taken from ParentDish.com) raises a challenging question about the role of parents in a baby’s gender and development.

Following a flurry of criticism stemming from the announcement she and her family would raise their child as gender-neutral, the mother of Storm Stocker is speaking out.

Kathy Witterick, the Canadian mother of the 4-month-old baby, and her husband, David Stocker, 39, sent an email to friends and family following Storm’s New Year’s Day birth, letting it be known just a select few — including the parents, midwives, a close friend and the couple’s two sons, Kio, 2, and Jazz, 5, would know Storm’s sex.

“We decided not to share Storm’s sex for now — a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a standup to what the world could become in Storm’s lifetime,” they wrote.

The family has declined any interviews since the story grabbed headlines following a report in the Toronto Star May 21, but Witterick defends the decision in a letter to the Edmonton Journal, published May 30.

“I’m shy and idealistic, and all my life I’ve worked in the field of abuse and violence prevention,” Witterick writes. “… Jazz is 5 years old. Since he was a young baby, he’s enjoyed color, texture and vibrancy. … As Jazz grew, his love of bright colors (especially pink) and lots of fabric (especially dresses) continued, and he wanted to grow his hair. The older he became, the more he met with pressure from peers and adults to adjust his image and ‘act more like a boy.’ Jazz remained committed to his own style.”

Witterick writes that Jazz, while listening to “Free to be You and Me” soon before Storm’s birth, began asking questions about how people would treat Storm should he, too, like to wear pink one day.

Continue reading →

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Election Day! Don’t Forget to Vote!

Posted on May 2, 2011 by

You know how we’re always saying youth don’t have enough power? Here is your chance to make a difference! Today, May 2nd, 2011, marks a federal election, where every Canadian fortunate enough with the opportunity to vote can take advantage of this liberty (one not afforded to people in many other countries) and have a say in the way in which their country should be run.

As recent statistics have shown, Canadian voter turnout tends to be quite dismal, considering we spend much of the post-election season criticizing our country. Often, we see that youth do not actively participate in politics. Why is that? Why is it that youth don’t vote or try to make a difference in the political development of their country?

Beyond the superficial reasons like “I don’t have time” or “One vote won’t make a difference”, I think a legitimate reason/concern is the lack of understanding or knowledge that youth have (or rather, don’t have) about the existing political parties. Certainly, if you have been unable to follow current issues plaguing our world today, or couldn’t tune into the TV broad-casted political debated, you just may be at a disadvantaged on voting day.

But of course, once again, Change Tomorrow’s World aims to give youth a viable solution so that you can actively be involved in the world we live in. We refer you to VoteCompass – a very interesting (but controversial) polling system set up on CBC (developed by a team of 15 top Canadian election researchers and political science scholars, and coordinated by the University of Toronto). An individual answers 30 questions on current issues surround this federal election – questions that were carefully crafted over months! Based on your votes, the program then synthesizes your answers and compares them to each party’s position, and provides a final result on which party’s platform you are most aligned with, along with information about the other parties. The final report is quite informative, and I found the result to be very interesting – notably, that the parties weren’t arranged on a spectrum, but rather on a four quadrant grid labelled “economic right”, “economic left”, “social liberalism” and “social conservatism”. I could see exactly where I fell on the quadrant, and how far away I was from certain parties.

While you should explore VoteCompass with a grain of salt and keep in mind that it might be over-simplified, it provides a wonderful way youth to make a better educated decision about how they should vote, and what you identify issues are important. Most importantly, VoteCompass opens a platform for discussion – you learn about important issues in Canada today, and also about where you need to beef up on your knowledge of national issues. Vote Compass will motivate you to learn more about the issues plaguing Canadians, and, I hope, will encourage you to gather more information to make an informed decision. The survey not meant to change your vote, or tell you how to vote – it’s about giving you a sense of where the parties fall and how you should look at the issues and your own position before voting.

For those of you hoping to participate in today’s election, and just need a little more information, please check out the VoteCompass poll by clicking here.

Lastly, we wanted to remind you of something important: As the Wonders of Womanhood noted in one of their posts, it wasn’t so long ago where women were fighting for their right to vote and have a say in the way in which their country was developing. Those women fought valiantly for equality and for a voice. Today, youth are so fortunately to be able to take advantage of the war those “petticoat soldiers” fought – and won – and I very strongly encourage you to make the most of this opportunity, and not let it pass you by. Today, in other countries, people are losing their lives just to have the chance to cast the one ballot that so many Canadian youth are letting slip by. Do note take your right to vote for granted.

Go forth and vote! There is great power in casting your ballot.

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Google’s Innovation In Tragedy: Person Finder Tool

Posted on March 13, 2011 by

The tragedy in Japan right now is all over the news, and in the hearts and minds of those at Change Tomorrow’s World. When I think of my loved ones, and how scared I would be if they were missing, I can’t help but wish there was a way to reunite those who have lost everything in the tremendously damaging earthquake. Sometimes, even when you are in the depths of despair, love from those you know can be the support you need to recover and rebuild.

One thing we here at Change Tomorrow’s World like about innovative thinking is that is can be molded to unique situations in order to solve problems – that is, innovative thinking is universally applicable. Google, for example, has use innovative thinking in a marvelous way to provide some relief to those in Japan. Their newest innovation is the People Finder tool  - a growing database which allows people to search for their family and loved ones who may be missing, or most information about peoples’ statuses and conditions. By providing an avenue to stay connected, Google is harnessing the knowledge of a global community fostered by the world-wide web.

The process is simple; you choose an option “Looking for someone” or “I have information about someone” and follow the prompts. The information provided by the online community through these options are complied into databases which the public can then access. While the records are still low in comparison to the number of individuals who are being inquired about, this fantastic idea provides a new way for people to be informed, and to be connected.

By providing Google’s work as an example to our readers, we hope to demonstrate that  great ideas can be put into practice so that they help the world. In the same way that donations, food, first aid, and volunteers all help to provide relief, innovative thinking can provide aid to a precarious situation such as that faced by those in Japan. Google’s Person Finder tool will provide relief in the hearts and minds of those who are frantically searching for others.

To view the website, please click here.

Please contribute, in whatever way you can, to those who are in need, and share your thought’s on Google’s new innovation.

~ Fariya Walji

CEO and Founder of Change Tomorrow’s World

Posted in Innovation | Leave a comment

Featured Interview: Organics 4 Orphans

Posted on February 24, 2011 by

Imagine these breaking headlines: “Worldwide poverty abolished” and “Quality of life improves across the planet.” But what if we could stop imagining this wonderful news and make it happen? Organics 4 Orphans is an organization that promises just that. The hard-working people behind this cause have pinpointed direct strategies for improving the health and lifestyle of orphans in Africa and they not only believe we can demolish poverty—they can prove it.

1. What is Organics 4 Orphans?

In 2004 my wife and I travelled to Malawi and were devastated to discover that there are 30 to 40 million orphans in Africa. We came to understand that not only did Africa have more orphans than you could build homes for but food security was an even bigger problem. One reason for this was that chemical fertilizers had gone from $10 a bag to almost $100 a bag, making it too expensive for people to buy. Kenya has the capacity to grow anything and they now import 80% of their food, with children usually getting the poorest quality and low-nutrient food such as corn meal or white rice.

We also understood that African families are happy to take in orphans if they can provide enough food for them and their families. Organics 4 Orphans’ solution is to teach communities how to grow high quality organic food so that everyone can be fed. We developed 5-day programs that teach communities how to make their own organic fertilizers and pesticides as well as save seeds. Our organization provides training, tools, fencing and watering cans to help ensure a steady supply of disease-fighting food for everyone.

2. Tell me about some of your recent projects.

We now have more than 100 projects, mostly in Kenya but also branching out to Uganda, Ethiopia and Nigeria.

In spring 2011 we are starting a 12-week mobile organic farming/natural medicine school so that we can eventually teach this in the 50 poorest countries of the world. Our form of agriculture is called bio-intensive, which can produce two to six times as much food per square foot—using very little water as well. That is one of the greatest advantages to bio-intensive gardening, as it enables us to grow the most amazing organic food in very dry areas. Every day we are discovering more beneficial ways to enable the poorest people in the world—who are called “the Bottom Billion”—to create surplus for themselves.

3. What makes Organics 4 Orphans different from other organizations that aim to help Africa? For example, your organization seems to focus on a healthy food angle. Can you share with us the reasons behind your approach?

Because there are so many homeless children to look after, many of them end up on the streets or, without their daily needs being met, they starve to death. We believe that with sustainable organic agriculture and natural medicine, you can feed the orphans and widows and cut diseases for as little as $10 a year. None of our projects cost more than $500 so it really is about putting the tools of the 21st-century technology in their own hands to change the future. We have identified more than 20 different plants that have high nutrient value that can easily cut diseases in half. We call that GROWING HEALTH. We are not only teaching the extreme poor to grow healthy food but we are also helping them to understand the benefits of incorporating greens and herbs into their diets. We have already seen improved health reports from people who are following our program.

We believe our strategy will provide the methodology to the poor that will enable them to help themselves climb out of extreme poverty and have hope for a better future.

All of our projects in Organics 4 Orphans are paid for by a company that my wife founded called www.NaturalCalm.ca, so 100% of all donated money goes directly to the projects in Africa.
4. Our blog is not only committed to educating students about issues around the world, but also to encouraging students to find a passion and to make a difference. What can youth do to help orphans/people in other countries, and how can they support Organics 4 Orphans?

The main thing that students can do is help create awareness. We think the most exciting news about the 21st century is that extreme poverty can be eliminated. You can go on our website and download a pdf document and videos that explain how this is possible. Tell all your friends that extreme poverty can be eliminated for pennies a day per person. This concept needs to go viral.

Food shortages are showing up all over the world because people do not know how to work with nature to feed themselves. We are encouraging people everywhere to start learning how to grow even a small organic garden here in North America. The money they save from that can support a whole village living in extreme poverty. We call this “the G.O.A.L.,” which stands for “Gardens Of African Love”—growing food here to save lives in the poorest countries. This helps the bottom billion live potentially twice as long and the top billion (that’s us) live healthier by growing more nutritious food here.

Interview by: Marisa Baratta

Blog Writer 2010-2011, Change Tomorrow’s World

(All photos on this page have been reproduced with the permission of Organics 4 Orphans. All credit to Organics 4 Orphans, see their website. A special thank you to Dale Bolton, co-founder of Organics 4 Orphans, who was kind enough to conduct this interview and supply pictures.)

Posted in Charity and Not-For-Profit Organization Interviews | Leave a comment

Changes Headed Our Way

Posted on February 24, 2011 by

The effects of global warming are visible all around us. They have recently also been noted in arctic waters. The temperature of arctic waters is the warmest it has been 2000 years! Arctic ice is melting faster than any computer program ever predicted previously. The ocean temperature has risen about 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the past century. This can be very impacting on our world, as it now takes five times more energy to warm water than compared to land (source).

Most of the Arctic Ocean is about 1000m deep and is covered in ice. The recent  warm temperatures have been melting the ice. This effect is due to a positive cycle: as temperature rises, ice cover declines and more solar heat is absorbed by the ocean, which in turns leads to more ice melting. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NCAA), sea ice and permafrost are decreasing, precipitation patterns are changing, the air is warmer, and the intensity of harmful UV radiation is increasing. These warming can also lead to rising of ocean levels all around the world. The impact of ocean levels rising would be tremendous. Cities located on shores would be destroyed and the population of these cities would need to be displaced, and  severe weather storms would become common.

Arctic water temperature is critical to our planet because it helps cool the earth by reflecting sunlight back to space. This ‘cover’ reflects over 90 % of sun’s radiation. The Earth’s oceans have the capacity to store more than 1000 times sun’s energy than compared to the land. Ocean currents travelling south from the arctic help cool the climate of North America and Asia. Also, the circulatory pathways of the current help keeps world’s temperature consistent. Cold sea water sinks and returns southward forming the global thermohaline circulation (THC). If water temperature continue rise, the THC will not be as efficient anymore because warmer  water does not sink so readily; and this could “turn off” the “ocean conveyor”.

Weather patterns would also see a change with a dramatic increase in severe storms around the world, as warmer water temperatures are the fuel for hurricanes. The effects of warmer water can also be seen in coral reefs. Longterm heating bleaches the corals reefs white and may kill them . Coral reefs are occupied by tiny creatures called polyp. These creatures provide the color and nutrition to coral reefs. However, once the temperature of water rises,these creatures leave which is the cause of coral reef bleaching. Coral reefs are important for diversity as they provide home to about 25 % marine population
(source).

When most of us think of global warming we think of hotter summers and less severe winters. However, global warming will have an impact on many other aspects of our world, several of which are not positive. Educating people around us who believe that the impacts of global warming do not exist or will not be severe is important to make them aware of the changes coming our way, and to act proactively and reduce the damage already incurring in our world. Changes we may today will help those who live in the world tomorrow, or several generations from now.

By: Aisha Shoaib

Blog Writer 2011, Change Tomorrow’s World

Posted in DiscussionBoard, Environmental Change | Leave a comment