CHILDREN'S BILL OF RIGHTS

Children’s Bill of Rights

The Children’s Bill of Rights focuses on the rights of children. It is like the U.S. Bill of Rights, except it has really different rules. In 1989, the United Nations decided that children should have a Children’s Bill of Rights.  Our class made our own Bill of Rights. We added stuff like:

·       no child abuse

·       all children should have freedom of speech

·       children should be treated equally

·       all children should have the right of medical attention

·       no children can be taken away from their parents at birth

·       children should have shelter

·       children should have clean water, and food

·       children’s opinions should be listened to

Then we saw the real Children’s Bill of Rights and compared it to ours. We did pretty well. We got about half of the ones that we wrote down right! Here is the link to the real Children’s Bill of Rights:  http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/humanrights/resources/child.asp.

By Caroline M.

7 Billion

Our class watched a video made by National Geographic about our population hitting 7 billion. These are some of the things I learned.

7 billion people

•It would take 200 years to count to 7 billion out loud.
•7 billion steps would take you around the globe 133 times.
•In 1800 the world’s population was only 1 billion.
•In 1930 the world’s population was 2 billion.
•In 1960 the population was 3 billion.
•In 1974 the population was 4 billion.
•In 1987 the population was 5 billion.
•In 1999 the population was 6 billion.
• Now in 2011 the population is 7 billion.
•In 2045 the population could be 9 billion.
•Every second 5 people are born and 2 people die.
•In one minute our population has increased by 161 people.
•In 2010 the average lifespan was 69 years old.
•In 1960 the average person only lived to be 53 years old.
•For the first time ever in 2008 more of us lived in cities than rural areas.
•A Mega-city has a population of over 10 million. In 1975 there were 3 mega-cities; Mexico City, Tokyo, and New York City.
•Right now there are 21 mega-cities.
•By 2050 70% of us will live in urban areas.
•But we don’t take up as much space as you think, we could all fit shoulder to shoulder in the city of Los Angeles.
•So it’s not space we need, it’s balance.
• 5% of us consume 23% of the world’s energy.
•13% of us don’t have clean drinking water.
•38% of us lack adequate sanitation.
•7 billion people speaking more than 7,000 languages.
•7 billion people living in 195 countries.

by Max B.

Loaning to KIVA

The video above shows what happens when 620,000 lenders fund 615,000 entrepreneurs, students, and other microfinance borrowers around the world.

ROOM 22 JOINED THE KIVA MOVEMENT

This month we raised money to give to Kiva. Kiva is an organization that gives loans out to people all over the world. Each person in the class made a $25 loan. Then we chose to whom we wanted to give the money to. We had a whole class period when people loaned to other people all over the world. Some people loaned to people in Tajikistan and other people loaned to Peru, Kenya and Panama, etc... We all filled out sheets about where the person was from and about why the person needed the loan. Making Kiva loans has inspired me and other people in our class to loan to Kiva more often.

By Julianna

Kiva Fundraising

Kiva fundraising was a real rush. People chose different things. For instance, Julianna and I did a bake and jewelry sale. Other people did things like cooking dinner for people, or organizing book sales. We had to raise a minimum of $25. It was very fun and exiting when you got your first customer (or any customer).

The fundraising was fun but there were also some challenges like trying to make the people want to buy your product. It turns out that you have to, as they say, “sell it”. You have to say things like “cookies, brownies, lemonade, all homemade, come and get them fresh…while they’re still here!” It was hard for some people because of shyness. To help the people understand more about Kiva we printed pages from the website but most of the people already knew about Kiva!

All in all, it was fun and hard but what really felt good was the whole idea that we were helping souls get back on their feet so they could pursue their goals or develop their talents.  It felt great to make a loan.

By Elizabeth

Mac Parish

Mac presenting to us about Kiva

In Fifth Grade we got to raise money for Kiva and loan it to a person who either needs it for personal needs or is starting a business. Kiva is a micro-finance organization that puts entrepreneurs on their website, and people who have a credit card and/or PayPal account and a computer can donate to them. So to learn about that, a former student of our teacher came in to talk to us about Kiva where he works. His name is Mac Parish and he lives in Kenya. His job is the Field Support Specialist for Anglophone Africa, more specifically, to help build sustainable relationships with Kiva borrowers. So that’s the background info about Mac, but here’s the info about the presentation and what we learned from it.  

Mac taught us that when you loan on Kiva, it works like this:
1. Kiva partners with a MFI (Microfinance Institution or Field Partners)
2. Field partners upload the loan and stories onto Kiva’s website
3. Lenders browse through people to lend to, then they lend
4. Kiva disburses the lenders money to the borrower
5. The entrepreneurs or borrowers repay the loan
6. Kiva gives the repayments to lenders

To show us how to loan on Kiva, Mac decided he should loan some money to a person of the grade’s choice. Originally, what happened was we were about to loan to a person who needed some money for... pesticides! At MCDS we are very organic so Mac (and our grade) made an executive decision to not loan to that person. We ended up loaning to a person who looked nice so she was our solution. It was that simple. Now that you know how Kiva works, you should try it for yourselves. Just 25 dollars can make all the difference.

Posted By Henry S

Non-profit Banking and The Five Cs of Credit

Non-profit Banking and The Five Cs of Credit

On Friday, the 9^th of December, Kat Taylor came to speak to our 5^th grade class. She is a former parent at our school who co-founded One PacificCoast Bank with her husband, Tom Steyer. It is a non-profit bank in Oakland with the goal of providing helpful fair banking services to less fortunate communities.  She spoke to us why it is important to give loans to people who would normally not be able to get them.

She also taught us the 5 C’s of Credit (the elements a borrower should have to receive credit)

1.      Capacity (the ability to pay the loan back)
2.      Capital (available money)
3.      Collateral (valuable things the bank can own until the money is paid back)
4.      Conditions (of the borrower and the environment the borrower lives in)
5.      Character (the quality of the person). Middle and high-income people are lucky because banks are kinder to them.

There is also a sixth C which she added after the suggestion of an MCDS fifth grader a few years ago: Community (it is important to have a supportive community)

One PacificCoast Bank treats everyone the same, no matter their income. 

By Ben Buder

Pennies A Day: A film about Muhammad Yunus

We watched a video called Pennies A Day about the Grameen bank started by Muhammad Yunus. Before the Grameen Bank, Bangladesh was a country in great poverty. Nobody was making money. Banks did not want to loan to poor people in Bangladesh because they did not think they would pay it back. Then Muhammad Yunus came up with the idea that he would start a bank where they would lend out money to poor rural people around Bangladesh. The business of the Grameen Bank is micro-credit which involves giving small loans to poor people so they have the opportunity to create small businesses. Loans are made for livestock, crafts and agriculture. Ninety-six percent of the loans are given to women because woman with the loans are cautious with the money and spend it first on their children. Each week the people who receive the loans gather in a large circle to make their payments.  The Grameen bank operates in almost every village in Bangladesh. The pay back rate is 99%. Now Bangladesh has roads and there are lots of small businesses.


By Anna Weisel