iNeed vs. iWant

What are the fundamentals which are truly necessary for our human existence?

I remember creating a "Wants and Needs" flip book in Mrs. Wright's "Promise" class back in 1st or 2nd grade ("Promise" was the elementary gifted & talented program in Oklahoma City Public Schools when I was young).  I remember drawing my bed and my house and food as "needs".  I don't remember what any of the specific "wants" were, but Castle Grayskull or some other Masters of the Universe related toy was probably on the list.

Each time I travel to part of the under-developed or developing world I am often confronted yet again with the question of our needs versus our wants.  Often our cultural mindsets and world views lead us into a skewed reality of this important divide.

I had actually started thinking of this topic for a blog posting while in Pena Blanca, Honduras, and now during the last 45 minutes remaining on the flight to Jakarta, Indonesia, I find that the same quandary is still apropos.

My church missions team helped to building a house for a family of five near Pena Blanca.  I posted a couple of pictures of this structure in a previous entry.  When does our need for basic shelter shift from a "need" to a "want", or can is shift?  I'm single and have a 1150 sq ft house with indoor plumbing, three bedrooms, and an attached garage.  Compared to this new 280 sq ft one-room house cherished by the Honduran family I have to wonder is my home a "want" or a "need".  I ask this knowing that by American standards, my home is definitely considered "modest".

Likewise, when does food cross from being a "need" to a "want"?  I remember how happy two young girls in rural Malawi were when I gave them a skewer of field mice; this is a national delicacy in Malawi and I had only bought the skewer from a roadside vendor for a simple photo opportunity.  Something so repulsive smelling by my standards was like a Thanksgiving feast to these two girls.  If we have enough food to eat (and an overwhelming variety of options from which to choose), does turning my nose up at something indicate that food has become, even if only temporarily, a "want"?

This post isn't about making those of us in the USA or developed world to feel ashamed for what we have.  It's simply about pausing for a moment to take a reality check.  One of the goals of the Teachers for Global Classrooms program is to help students thinking critically about issues of significance, especially those of an international caliber.  I don't seek to force an answer on my pupils, but hope to inspire them to analyze information and make well-reasoned applications of what they've learned.

Such a quest is indeed difficult within the iProduct generation.  We've often confused our gadgets as absolute needs (I'm sorry for texting in class, but it was my mom and an "emergency") as opposed to wants that simply make our already comfortable life more enjoyable.  And in fairness, I must admit that the iPhone I'm using to compose this message makes communication back home a much more efficient endeavor...but is it something I "need" to use?

What are your thoughts on needs versus wants?  How has a remote road roaming experience impacted how you might think about needs and wants?

Videos from Honduras

As a welcome to Honduras, we were entertained on Sunday evening by this group of children dancers.  This group has apparently won second place at a national Honduras dance competition.

We set out on Monday morning to set up our first clinic at a local orphanage.  The roads in rural Honduras are often rough and bumpy and yet have beautiful scenes along their routes.

On Tuesday evening, following a day of hosting a clinic at their church, the congregation of Ebenezer Iglesia de Cristo invited us to their worship service.  The service was highlighted by lively music and dancing.

Friday Funday

Friday began with the whole group (members from the clinic, the children's team, and the construction teams) going to the village outside of San Pedro Sula were one of the construction groups had been working on building a house.  The small 12 ft by 20 ft one-room house was completed and we were going to help the family celebrate with a ribbon cutting and a dedication prayer followed by cake and soda.  The family expressed their gratitude for having a new home and a prayer of blessing was offered for the house and the family's future.

One of the guys who had been helping to build the house had commented that on Wednesday evening, before there was even a roof, the mother was found sweeping the floor of her new home.  As she was sweeping it was not with an attitude of "oh great, look at the dirt all of these guys are leaving on my floor" but more of an attitude of "thank you God for the ability to care for this special home you have given my family."  It's amazing the perspective that something so simple by our standards can mean something of such great worth by the standards of another.  How often do we perform household chores as an activity we have to do rather than with an attitude of thankfulness for the blessings that accompany the activity?

The new house with members of our team wondering the grounds

The family cuts the ribbon to inaugurate their new home...
they had already hung some potted plants and a plaque above the door.

While the family, adult members of our team, and neighbors enjoy cake as part of the celebration our kids held an impromptu game of "pick-up" soccer, or football, with a group of local children.  A couple of house lots away from the new house there was an open area that was perfect for the fun.  The soccer ball was one of several that had been brought by our group and upon our final good-byes with the family we left the ball with the local children for them to continue to enjoy.

Playing soccer (or football)

Following the festivities at the house, our group had another opportunity to enjoy some of the beautiful scenery of Honduras.  Just outside of the village with the new house we went to a park along the local river to enjoy the amazing waterfalls.  In addition to the scenic beauty of the falls, several of us (myself included) took advantage of the opportunity to ride the zip-line course which crisscrossed the river.  Those who know me well know that I have a fear of heights, however this is one of those "once in a lifetime" events that I couldn't pass up.  And I'll tell you...the view of the falls as I glided over the majestic drop in the river was worth every penny and I'd do it again in a heart beat!!!

The beautiful falls of the river.

David on the zip-line flying high about the drop in the river.
Such an amazing view of the falls from up above!!!

We then made our 2+ hour drive back to San Pedro Sula for the remainder of our time in Honduras.  We stooped at a local craft market to buy some souvenirs and help stimulate the local economy; those who know me know that the hour given to us for shopping was simply "not enough" and yet I found everything I "needed".  We then checked into our airport neighborhood hotel and headed to dinner.  While in the parking lot of the restaurant, an adult and a couple of children approached different members of our group trying to sell DVDs.  Some of them were very current movies, some so "current" that they are still playing in U.S. theaters.  So in order to help stimulate the economy even more AND to have a great story to tell about buying a pirated movie from to fun little boys, I did buy a copy of The Avengers.  All of the packaging is in Spanish, but the movie is in English...and it actually works!!

Joseph checking out the selection of "pirated" DVD movies

Back to the hotel and then to sleep.  We had to be up by 4:00 AM in order to get to the airport by 5:00 AM so as to get checked in, luggage tagged, airport departure taxes paid, security checked, and ready to board our 7:00 flight.  And alas, a wonderful trip to Honduras filled with health care, home building, cultural enlightening, and team bonding has come to and end.  All of our team members are safely back in the United States.

I am so thankful for the wonderful opportunities to do some remote road roaming in Honduras over the past week.  I can now count pills and zip-line with the best of them.  Most importantly have again had the opportunity to see the diversity of peoples and cultures that are present within this wonderful world God has created.

And now I look forward to the next adventure...Indonesia!

Pictures from Thursday

Bumpy & winding roads are worth it for a valley view like this

Children at the local stream with "rapids"

Children playing among the "rapids"

Heart to Honduras compound's meeting hall

Venturing out into Lake Yojoa

Fishing boats on Lake Yojoa

Mountains surround Lake Yojoa

Sunshine peering over the storm clouds

Pictures from Wednesday

Three-story tree house en route to mountain top school

Mountain road which challenged our bus

Inside the mountain top one-room school house

The one-room school has become a clinic's pharmacy

Patients checking in at the clinic

Elaine consulting with a patient;
Dan prayed with each patient as well

House (with terraced gardens) on a mountain slope

Twisted Thursday

This entry's title comes from the shape and directional changes of the road we traversed today.  We drove about an hour and a half from Pena Blanca to another village.  To get to this village included a bunch of twisting to get up a mountain and then twisting to get back down to the other side of this mountain.  We saw some beautiful scenery en route to the compound overseen by Heart to Honduras, the in-country mission with whom we have been working this week.

We set up the examination areas of the clinic and our pharmacy inside the compound's large meeting hall.  We were joined by a couple of Honduran doctors from near Pena Blanca and ended up having seven medical providers.  One of these providers felt like there would be more need for her in the pharmacy today and so she joined our team.  It ended up being a blessing because our pharmacy coordinator became ill (all ready had started the day not feeling well) and had to find a place to lie down for the rest of the day), so this provider turned pharmacist became our new coordinator and helped to save the day.  While I joke about a new career as a legal pill pusher I still have no clue what the medicines I'm counting and bagging up do to a person's insides; I needed a "professional" to help make sure I was grabbing the correction items.

The children's team set up outside of the meeting hall on a porch area which over looked a beautiful mountain stream with "rapids".  During lunch time I did venture down to the stream to put my feet in.

We then returned to Las Glorias Resort for an early evening boat tour on Lake Yojoa. The sights were so wonderful.  You could see storm clouds gathering over the mountain heights with bursts of sunlight peeking through.  Several small fishing boats were also out on the river; I assume that the fish we have eaten at a couple of our meals have come from this lake.

The evening is concluding by a another round of storms.  So far they are not so strong as to knock out our power or Internet connection.  I guess I better hit "publish" on this entry before the power goes out.

Pictures from Tuesday

View from Las Glorias Resort

Outside of Ebenezer Iglesia de Cristo

Children waiting for arts & crafts to begin

Dr. Jerry visiting with a patient

Pharmacist David...dividing out Benadryl

Street scene in Pena Blanca

Shopping in Pena Blanca

Our tubs of meds and kids' crafts in transit

Tuesday evening service at Ebenezer Iglesia de Cristo

Pictures from Monday

A Honduran family traveling

This is for what?

Tums !!!

Grant & a family consultation

MaryAnn examining a child

Bruce & Brad coloring with children

Building concrete walls

Ready to set the next level of the wall

Wild Wednesday

Our goal was to leave the resort a little earlier than "normal" on Wednesday since we were leaving the immediate Pena Blanca area and roaming to the other side of the lake...and up a mountain...to get to a small school in a mountain top village.  I'm not sure what delayed us, but we still ended up leaving around the "normal" time.

At the bottom of the mountain's road we stopped at a restaurant and were told to visit the facilities as those at the school would not be as "nice".  Then the trek began.  About half way up the mountain our driver suddenly stops the bus and orders everyone to get off.  He was unsure if he could safely get us to our destination.  We began walking along the side of the road seeking a flat area at which we hoped our bus driver would again allow us to board.  No such luck.  HOWEVER, the teacher at the mountain top school somehow received word of our situation and drove down in a small pick-up truck to haul about half of the clinic/children's team to the top (I was in this group).  Once at the top of the mountain, the truck returned to get the rest of the group.

While waiting for the rest of the group and the medicines to arrive, the other "pharmacists" and I began setting up the inside of the one-room school house for our work.  The doctors' examination area would be on the side walk immediately outside of the school and then the children's activities would take place on a porch and grassy area to the side of the school.  The ONLY problem with the location of the pharmacy was that we were not able to benefit from the wonderful breeze blowing across the top of the mountain.  It was refreshing each time we stepped outside for some air.

The school itself was a site to see and I'll include pictures of it once I have reliable Internet connections.  It reminded me of the images of the "Little House on the Prairie" school because one teacher would present lessons covering a variety of subjects within one contained room to pupils of multiple ages, grades, and ability levels.  Grammar lessons were written on a couple of chalkboards while a math lesson was on another.  Another memory conjured up by this school was the summer of 2002 when I spent a couple of months teaching at Kima International School of Theology outside of Kisumu, Kenya.  The memory was of the chalkboards having simply been painted right on to the wall itself with the use of chalkboard paint.

Today was the MOST fun I've had in the pharmacy to date (other days were nice too).  I guess we are finally getting into our routine and know where everything is "supposed" to be.  We've even developed nicknames for some of the more regularly used medicines.  It's kind of funny being asked to count out 25 of something called "meth".

We served about 220 people today and then closed up early (this shocked me, but no one else was in line).  Part of the efficiency process that we have developed included the clean-up phase and we were packed and ready to go in "no time" at all.  And then began the trip back down the mountain.  Because there were fears as to the bus' safety for going down hill, all of the tubs of meds were loaded into the bus rather than the human passengers.  We then crawled into the back of a couple of trucks.  Once we were all down at the bottom of the mountain, we returned to the same restaurant with the "nice" facilities to swap people and tubs so we could drive the rest of the way back to the resort.

Thursday we venture out to another village away from Pena Blanca.  The remote roads which we are roaming have been full of adventure and, when we are open to it, lots of joy and blessing even with obstacles to overcome (like steep mountain roads and the torrential rain from Monday night).

Tuesday's Saga

Tuesday's saga actually began on Monday evening.  What began as a gentle early evening rain shower during dinner turned into a torrential deluge during our evening group meeting and devotion time.  The rain was so loud as it pounded on the roof of the meeting hall that it was highly difficult to hear each other speak as we reflected on the day's activities.  Not knowing that the gentle shower would become a deluge, I didn't bring my rain gear to the meeting.  As such, I had to manuever about 1/4 of a mile from the meeting hall to my hotel room in the pouring rain.  I was ready for that warm shower upon my return.

The rain continued to fall for about six hours overnight, shifting from a steady downpour to its torrential storm counterpart.  After leaving the orphanage on Monday, part of the team transported all of the plastic tubs of medicine and children's craft materials to the local church for Tuesday's clinic session.  At breakfast Tuesday morning, our group learned of a serious complication which was caused by the "mansoon" rains.  The church had flooded and water got in to "some" of the tubs.  But we were told not to worry as members of the church had spent much of the night (after the rain stopped coming down) cleaning out the two-foot flood in their tiled sanctuary and then began going through each tub to slavage what they could.

The "some" tubs idea I had in my head was transformed into the reality that well over half of the tubs had received some form of leakage and thus some damage to the contents.  Most of the damage ended up being, in the grand skeme of things, rather insignificant...boxes of medicine which actually contained sealed bottles inside.  The primary damage to medicine included a small handful of large plastic bottles that had previously been opened and without their protective seals and a large bulk box of multi-vitaimin pills for children (we were packaging smaller kits from this box).  Nearly all of the remainder of the medicines survived...WOW.

We were able to serve well over 250 people from the Pena Blanca community today, ages ranging from a 19 day old baby to a couple of women in their late 80s.

After the work day and a return to the resort for clean-up and dinner, we returned to the same church for their weekly Tuesday night service.  Most churches in this part of Honduras hold a Sunday eveneing, Tuesday evening, and Thursday evening service each week (no Sunday morning services).  It was full of lively music and dancing and lasted a little over 2 hours.

Wednesday will take the clinic and children's teams to another village about a 45 minute drive away while the construction teams will continue at the orphanage and building a house.

Monday Recap

Following breakfast at Las Glorias Resort, we venture a couple of miles away to a local orphanage. Part of our team assisted with some construction projects around the campus. Due to a lack of sand for se concrete projects, the team was limited in what they could help accomplish. For most of the day the word was that the sand was "coming any minute" and it finally did arrive...at the end out the day as our bus was leaving.

Another group organized crafts and games for many of the children. These child see were not limited to those living at the orphanage, but also include the children of adults from the community who came for our free medical clinic. This team has become known as the "Hey Team" because the children either don't know or can't remember the names of the Anglos and simply shout out "Hey you".

The team which I am working with is the medical team. I am helping out in the pharmacy to fill the medicine prescriptions for those children and adults who are seeing our team of medical professionals. The team saw approximately 115 people on Monday which includes both the orphans and the local community families.

I've been told that Monday will be the easiest day. Tuesday we will set out for a church to set up another clinic and Hey Team. Our construction team will be split up with half returning to orphanage now that the sand has arrived and the other half beginning the process of building a house for a local family in need.

Arrival in Honduras

Our group of 30 has arrived safely at our hotel near Pena Blanca, Honduras. We are about a two hour drive from San Pedro Sula. The hotel is a cute resort center on the banks of a local river and has mountain scenery in the background. The team members have all reset for a bit in our rooms and we are now gathering for dinner. Here are some pics.

View of the lake from my room at Las Glorias Resort

Advertisement in baggage claim at San Pedro Sula airport;
best "welcome" sign there was

The gardens of Las Glorias Resort

David and the Milligan kids on train in Houston airport

And We're Off

Leaving Oklahoma City this morning and will arrive in San Pedro Sula, Honduras around noon. 30 of us are heading out on a missions trip for a week. We will be dividing into medical, construction, and children's activity teams.

Here's a picture of our supply tubs at the check in counter.

Honduras: Urban Geography

Honduras

An Urban Geography Profile

• Largest City: Tegucigalpa
• Rank Size Rule Population Estimate: 1,135,309
• Actual Population: 1,135,309
• 2nd Largest City: San Pedro Sula
• Rank Size Rule Population Estimate: 567,655
• Actual Population: 687,018
• 3rd Largest City: Choloma
• Rank Size Rule Population Estimate: 378,436
• Actual Population: 260,439
• 4th Largest City: La Ceiba
• Rank Size Rule Population Estimate: 283,827
• Actual Population: 189,078
• 5th Largest City: El Progreso
• Rank Size Rule Population Estimate: 227,062
• Actual Population: 141,007

To what extent is the Rank Size Rule shown to be valid or invalid based upon the population information for your country?

The Rank Size Rule suggests that the 2nd largest city in a country will be about half the size of the population of the country's largest city, the 3rd largest city will be about 1/3 the size of the largest city, so on and so forth such that the N largest city would be 1/N the size of the largest city's population.  While the Rank Size estimates for San Pedro Sula, Choloma, La Ceiba, and El Progreso do not match up exactly with the actual populations of each city, there is some validity to the use of the Rank Size Rule in estimating the population of Honduras' cities.  Despite the populations not fitting exactly, one can see a general decline in the population ratios of each city as compared to Tegucigalpa which resemble the trend suggested by the Rank Size Rule.

Population: 7,754,700

Population Density: 69 people per sq km

% Urban Population: 52%

% Urban Population Living in Slums: 35%

Average Annual % Change in Urban Population: 2.9%

% with Improved Urban Sanitation: 80%

% with Improved Urban Water Supply: 95%

Information from World Gazetteer and the Population Reference Bureau

Honduras: Development & Industry

Honduras:

A Development & Industry Profile

Population: 7,754,700

CO2 Emissions per Capita: 1.0 metric tons

% Women as Non-Farm Wage Earners: 34%

Human Development Index: 0.667

# of TVs per Capita: 0.074

# of Physicians per 1000 people: 0.57

Medical Spending per Capita (in US$): $107.33

Education Spending (% of GDP): N/A

Pupil-Teacher Ratio (Secondary Level): N/A

% of GDP as Industry: 26.3%

Total Labor Force: 3.461 million

% of Labor Force in Industry: 20.9%

Unemployment Rate: 4.8%

Public Debt (% of GDP): 29.6%

Inflation Rate: 7%

Industries:

sugar, coffee, woven and knit apparel, wood products, cigars

Electricity Production: 6.58 billion kWh

Electricity Consumption: 6.54 billion kWh

Oil Production: 0 bbl/day

Oil Consumption: 51,000 bbl/day

Natural Gas Production: 0 cu m

Natural Gas Consumption: 0 billion cu m

Value of Exports: $6.839 billion

Export Partners and %:

U.S. (65%), El Salvador (4.4%), Germany (4%)

Value of Imports: $10.04 billion

Import Partners and %:

U.S. (50.7%), Guatemala (8.2%), Mexico (5.3%), El Salvador (4.8%)

# of Internet Hosts: 27,074

# of Internet Users: 731,700

# of Airports (total): 104

# of Airports with Paved Runways: 13

# of km of Roadways (total): 14,239 km

# of km of Paved Roadways: 3,159 km

# of km of Waterways: 465 km

Location of Ports & Terminals:

La Ceiba, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo, Tela

Information from Population Reference Bureau, NationMaster.com, and the CIA's Worldfact Book.

Honduras: Agricultural Profile

Honduras:

An Agricultural Profile

Total Area:112,090 sq km

Land Area: 111,890 sq km

Water Area: 200 sq km

Climate:

subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains

Terrain:

mostly mounains in interior, narrow coastal plains

Arable Land Use: 9.53%

Permanent Crop Use: 3.21%

Irrigated Land: 800 sq km

Total Renewable Water Resources: 95.9 cu km

Total Freshwater Withdrawal: 0.86 cu km per year

Per Person Freshwater Withdrawal: 119 cu m per year

Natural Hazards:

frequent, but generally mild earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast

Current Environmental Issues:

urban population expanding; deforestation results from logging and the cleaning of land for agricultural purposes; further land degradation and soil erosion hastend by uncontrolled development and improper land use practices such as farming of marginal lands; mining activities polluting Lago de Yojoa (the country's largest source of fresh water), as well as several rivers and streams, with heavy metals

Total Labor Force: 3.461 million

% Agricultural Labor Force: 39.2%

Agricultural Products:

bananas, coffee, citrus, corn, African palm, beef, timber, shrimp, tilapia, lobster

Information from CIA's World Factbook

Honduras: Political Profile

Honduras:

A Political Profile

Country's Name: Republic of Honduras

Capital City: Tegucigalpa

Type of Government: democratic constitutional republic

Independence Date: September 15, 1821 (from Spain)

Chief of State (public face): President Porfirio Lobo Sosa

Head of State (actual leader): President Porfirio Lobo Sosa

Description of Executive Powers:

President (who serves as both Chief of State and Head of State) and Vice President are elected by popular vote for a four-year term; the last election was held on November 29, 2009 with the next to be held in November 2013. Additionally, the President appoints a Cabinet.

Description of Legislative Powers:

A unicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) with 128 seats; members are elected proportionally by the various departments to serve a four-year term.  The last elections were held on November 29, 2009 with the next to be held in November 2013.

Description of Judicial Powers:

The Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia) has 15 judges which are elected for seven-year terms by the National Congress.

Suffrage (voting rights): 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Their Ambassador to U.S.: Jorge Ramon Hernandez Alcerro

Location of Embassy in U.S.: Washington, DC

Location of Consulates in U.S.: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans New York, Phoenix, and San Francisco (honorary in Jacksonville)

U.S. Ambassador to Them: Lisa J. Kubiske

Location of U.S. Embassy There: Tegucigalpa

Location of U.S. Consulates There: none

Representative to the UN: Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake

three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white (middle), and blue (bottom), with five blue five-pointed stars arranged in an "X" pattern centered in the white band; the stars represent the members of the former Federal Republic of Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua); the blue bands symbolize the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea; the white band represents the land between the two bodies of water and the peace and prosperity of its people

Information from CIA's World Factbook and CIA's World Leaders

Honduras: Culture Profile

Honduras:

A Cultural Profile

Nationality: Honduran

Ethnic Groups:

Languages:

Spanish (official) with Amerindian dialects

Religions:

Information from CIA's World Factbook

Violence in Honduras

As a reminder, I am heading to Honduras on July 8th for a one-week missions trip with Crossings Community Church.  Our team will be divided into three groups focusing on construction of a couple of houses, medical care, and children's activities.  I'll be working in the pharmacy with the medical team.  Is "tres pastillas para usted; uno para mí" the correct translation for "three pills for you; one for me"?

Yesterday Michael Milligan, my missions pastor, sent an e-mail with a link to a recent article about Honduras which appeared in an internationally recognized magazine on international issues.  Take a moment and read "Violence in Honduras: The Eye of the Storm" from The Economist.

Favorite line from the article: "Baring war zones, [the high murder rate] makes Honduras by most reckonings the most violent country in the world."

To clarify his thoughts in his e-mail, Michael gave the following commentary to help put his relaying of this article into some perspective: "I am not sending you the article to alarm you, but so that you can have a greater awareness of what the Honduran people face day after day.  I am not worried or anxious about the safety of our team while we are in Pena Blanca, but my heart breaks for the people who constantly live under this cloud of fear and death."

As such, please consider both this article and Michael's commentary as you roam the remote roads of Honduras with me in a couple of weeks.

Honduras: Population Profile

Honduras:

A Population Profile

Population (Mid-2011): 7,754,700

Land Area (sq. km): 112,090

Population Density (per sq. km): 69

Net Migration (# per 100): -2

Crude Birth Rate (# per 1000): 26

Crude Death Rate (# per 1000): 5

Rate of Natural Increase: 2.1%

Infant Mortality (# deaths per 1000 births): 24.0

Total Fertility Rate (av. # born per woman): 3.1

Dependency Rate (<age 15% + >age 65%): 36% + 4% = 40%

Male Life Expectancy: 71 years

Female Life Expectancy: 76 years

Male Literacy Rate: 93%

Female Literacy Rate: 95%

% Male Enrolled in Secondary School: 57%

% Female Enrolled in Secondary School: 72%

GNI PPP per capita (in US$): $3,710

% Living Below US$2 Per Day: 36%

% Male 15+ Economically Active: 80%

% Female 15+ Economically Active: 40%

Mobile Phone Accounts (# per 100): 85

Motor Vehicles (# per 1000): N/A

% Women in Legislative Body: 18%

% Rural with Access to Improved Water: 77%

% Undernourished: 23.0%

% Children <age 5 Underweight: 9.0%

% HIV/AIDS Among Ages 15-49: 0.8%

Information from Population Reference Bureau