Concluding Remarks

The great strength of your blog was that it was going to follow a particular issue - poverty - in the Congo: an absolutely fascinating and important subject. Unfortunately, it never really took off, and I only note 8 posts, two of which are mine. Hence, its very hard to comment on to what degree you've come to understand the issues, and the Congo. I've commented on almost all the posts you made, and hence can't say much more at this stage.

The blog does use a striking image as a kind of banner, but really involves very little, if any, design. You might want to consider placing a greater emphasis on design and consistently posting, and developing a fuller knowledge of the subject in any future such endeavours.

Food for thought going forward.

The blog so far...

Steph: Your blog to date. Although I find it a fascinating issue, particularly with regards to the Congo (so kudos for selecting it), I'm not sure it has taken off quite yet. Remember, at a bare minimum, you're to be posting - and therefore trending events and developments twice a week, whilst at the same time developing a knowledge and an informed opinion about the country, its culture, its politics and the issues it faces. Perhaps this might be a good time to "re-tool" and engage anew. I've included some links below that might get you thinking...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1076399.stm
(A BBC profile of the country - a ton of information and opinion here. One particular article: "Can the Congo be saved from crisis"... and some telling images.)

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/congothedemocraticrepublicof/index.html
(A New York Times feature (Jan 24, 2011) on the Congo - it includes a feature that gathers all the information on the Congo in a news feed (the Congo Navigator) It also contains an RSS feed you could post on your blog for the Congo.)

History

This week, there have not been any pressing issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo, so to re-cap on the issues that have been the contributing factors that have put Congo in its state of desperation I will explain more of the civil unrest in the area as of now.
The three year civil war that took place in the DRC and is still going on unsupervised in certain areas of the region, is due to political uneasiness due to a desperate need for basic necessities such as water, access and control over rich minerals and other resources as well as various political agendas.
This has been fueled and supported by various national and international corporations and other regimes which have an interest in the outcome of the conflict.
The lack of aid to conclude all violent actions in the DRC is having a negative impact on the citizens as well as the civilians trust and support in the government.

S.O.S

The DRC has numeral complex reasons as to why the region is in such strain right now. The 3 year civil war between Congo and the rebels added tension to the already strained governmental issues. The power of the region, in my opinion, does not lie in the government but in groups of rebels that are still tourmenting civilians, causing crime rates to increase and push the civilians into a depper impoverished state. Without the aid 0f a ore influencial group or nation, for example the United Nations assembly or the United States, the DRC's situation will not improve but rather start to downward spiral into nothing.

The D.R.C- poverty and wealth

http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Africa/Congo-Democratic-Republic-of-The-POVERTY-AND-WEALTH.html

The article that is attached to the above link discusses the lack of wealth in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the reasons thereof. There are extremes of both the wealthy and the poor in the D.R.C. Those whom can be classified in the wealthy portion of the population are so because they profit from the work of industries that have done exceptionally well in the area and have been able to pay the taxes that the government requires each citizen to do.
The disfunctionality in the government of the D.R.C, whom is being led by Joseph Kabila, who took over this position after her father was asssassinated, is not adding any aid to those who are in dire need of help to end their poverty stricken state. These citizens that cannot pay taxes are at a loss because the government has yet to provide aid for them.

Poverty in Africa

The above image shows the number of poeople in poverty in Africa. There are above 165 people in the majority of areas of the contitinent that are living in poverty and this just shows the severity of the issue in Africa, which is stereotypically the most impoverished continent in the world.

Poverty Levels in 2005

The graph above is illustrating the percentage of people in the world at various poverty levels in 2005. Judging by this image, poverty levels are at an extreme high and governments should be placing higher importance on controlling the poverty levels in whatever way they can.