Showing posts with label Asia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asia. Show all posts

Saturday, August 23, 2025

What makes the palm tree the most versatile tree on earth?

 

Ripe palm fruit tree

Ripe palm fruit tree


Considering that all humans are reliant on the global ecological system, I can understand why so many people are trying to preserve it. To make life meaningful, governments are fighting against pollution and deforestation.

 

Humans have long relied on trees for the necessities of life, including food, oxygen, shelter, tools, and medicine. There is a specific tree known as the palm tree in Asia and Africa, and nothing is wasted from it.

 

The palm tree may have more products than any other tree in the world, making it a true magic tree. The tree's several products contribute significantly to local consumption and sustain the economies of many nations through exports.

 

Oil palm is grown in the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone in West Africa, whereas Malaysia and Indonesia provide the majority of the world's palm products.

 

Ripe palm nut fruits

Ripe palm nut fruits


How do you categorize a tree that can be used to produce candles, soap, margarine, sweeping brooms, and two types of oil, red palm oil and palm kernel oil?


A palm wine tapper on a palm tree tapping palm wine. The fermented palm wine can also be used to brew sweet-flavored moonshine.


A palm wine tapper on a palm tree tapping palm wine. The fermented palm wine can also be used to brew sweet-flavored moonshine.


Palm nut soup is made from cream extracted from palm nut fruits and is typically consumed with fufu, a mixture of pounded plantain and cassava. Most people in Ghana and Ivory Coast eat this dish. The image depicts a white woman sampling this delectable dish.


Palm nut soup is made from cream extracted from palm nut fruits and is typically consumed with fufu, a mixture of pounded plantain and cassava. Most people in Ghana and the Ivory Coast eat this dish. The image depicts a white woman sampling this delectable dish.


The palm tree is also capable of producing body lotions, lubricants, soap, margarine, and cough medicine, and because of its high temperature, goldsmiths frequently utilize the hardcover or nutshell in furnaces to melt iron ore and gold. Palm products are always available in Asian and African supermarkets. 


Two additional advantages of the palm tree are that the decaying tree offers a source of protein from the palm weevil larvae and that the dried blooms are used to repel mosquitoes. People in the Greater Accra area refer to it as "Asemlejo." They're some of the best. Packed with protein, vitamins, and minerals, they are claimed to taste like bacon when fried and have a creamy texture when raw. 


Children sweeping their compound with local brooms made from palm trees.

Children sweeping their compound with local brooms made from palm trees. 


Lastly, traditional local sweeping brooms can also be made from the branches of palm trees. Our compound is swept by brooms in both contemporary residences and communities. Other than "magic tree," what other term would I use to describe a palm tree?

 

Saturday, July 26, 2025

How YouTube is putting money into the pockets of the impoverished youth

 

The powerful YouTube logo.

The Powerful YouTube Logo


Everyone, regardless of education level, in developing countries, is familiar with YouTube, a platform for sharing videos. However, many people are unaware that the video-sharing platform has been one of the major sources of income for young people living in poverty in underdeveloped countries.

 

On February 14, 2005, twenty years ago, three former PayPal employees founded YouTube.com to use it as a dating service. Their tagline was "Tune In, Hook Up." Due to their inability to draw viewers, the co-founders Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim made their first YouTube video, "Me at the zoo," which showed Karim at the San Diego Zoo. That was the initial inspiration to pull the crowd.

 

It is hard to underestimate the vision and intelligence of Google, the largest search engine platform in the world. In 2006, the search engine company paid $1.65 billion for the YouTube platform. 


Over the last four quarters, the platform has generated $50 billion in combined revenue from advertising and subscriptions, marking a significant milestone in its transformation from a site for user-generated content to a source of income for both developed and developing nations.

 

Obtaining funding to launch businesses has proven to be a particularly challenging issue for developing nations, and as the saying goes, "the devil has work for the idle hands." 


The youth in Third World countries worldwide are now actively engaged in YouTube, making money by producing videos that range from entertainment to business seminars and books, and even brief posts are already bringing in millions of dollars for content creators worldwide. All thanks to Google.

 

You don't have to be wealthy to make money on YouTube; once you have a little money to purchase a smartphone, the straightforward process of converting knowledge, content, or audiences into cash becomes available, adaptable, and most importantly, real. 


Advertising, subscriptions, gift-giving, course sales, affiliate programs, and information items are a few examples of this. Monetization is no longer merely an opportunity by 2025; it is now a development strategy.

 

The key to monetization is not the quantity of subscribers but rather the value you can provide to your audience; for instance, what counts is the video's content. 


If you're an expert or skilled marketer, you can make money from your knowledge by selling webinars and books on YouTube. According to data from the keyword research and digital marketing platform Semrush, 185 million people visit YouTube each month just through searches on Google.

 

YouTube has long dominated the online video market, whether in Asia, Africa, America, or Europe. While it has been a powerful platform in terms of business for both developed and developing nations, YouTube has been a powerful tool in deterring thousands of young people from committing crimes. 


Tuesday, February 23, 2016

10 TOP MYTHS ABOUT HIV/AIDS


HIV/Aids pills

HIV/Aids pills



Original article published by REAL HEALTH TREATMENTS


Beginning to understand the challenges of HIV/AIDS starts by dealing with some of the common myths people tend to believe about the disease. The following are some of the myths and facts about the disease.

1. 1. HIV/AIDS is mostly a disease of homosexual men

Primarily spread by heterosexual sex, HIV/AIDS now infects as many women as men worldwide. Although the disease was first recognized in the United States among gay men, it has also significantly spread among IV drug users. Internationally, it is more often a disease of heterosexuals.

2. HIV/AIDS is mostly an African problem.

Found in every country in the world, HIV infections are growing most rapidly in countries outside of Africa, including India and Russia. Many African countries have been decimated by HIV/AIDS, but the impact is also significant in Asia, Eastern Europe, and India.

3. HIV/AIDS spreads mostly because of poor moral choices

Women are often infected by their husbands. Children most often contract HIV by being born to HIV+ mothers. It isn’t helpful or meaningful to determine who is at fault or who is an innocent victim.

4. Plenty of money is being spent on fighting HIV/AIDS.

While a great deal of money is being spent by governments, private organizations, and individuals to fight HIV/AIDS, much more is needed.

5. HIV/AIDS is no longer a problem in developed countries like Canada, the United States, e.t.c.

Because medications (Antiretrovirals or ARVs) are widely available in developed countries, the death rate has decreased. But the number of people living with HIV/AIDS has not decreased, and the rate of new infections is not declining.

6. ARVs are widely available

While antiretrovirals are becoming more available, they are still difficult to find in many rural areas and in some countries. Both drugs and systems to distribute them are needed in many poor countries.

7. A cure exists for HIV/AIDS

While there are treatments to prolong life, there is no cure. Many scientists are working on a cure, but few believe there will ever be one way to effectively cure someone because the virus constantly changes.

8. There is no hope for those with HIV/AIDS

Great progress is being made in treatments, and the rate of infant infection in some countries is dropping rapidly. There is also a dropping rate of new infections in many countries with strong prevention programs.

9. If I’m not HIV+, the disease doesn’t affect me

The high rate of HIV/AIDS infections is causing instability in many countries and reversing the progress made in development. It is also causing a worldwide tuberculosis pandemic. Every community is affected. A pandemic affects everyone, even if not immediately recognized.

10. There’s nothing I can do

Everyone can do something. First, become educated. Then help teach others in your church, school, and community. Begin to care and pray about how you and your church, school, and community can become involved. 

Begin to share your knowledge with your peers to help break HIV stigma and the discrimination that exists in most communities today, and to encourage others to be a part of this fight to end the stigma of those affected or infected with HIV/AIDS.



Sunday, January 02, 2005

2005, A YEAR OF HOPE AFTER THE TSUNAMI


Some of the survivors after the tsunami


Some of the survivors after the tsunami


Within a relatively short period between January 1st and December 31, 2004, thousands of people worldwide experienced many ups and downs, ranging from social problems to natural disasters. 


As a matter of fact, the year 2004 was not all that amusing or a happy year for many people. 

The ongoing war in Iraq, ethnic conflicts, and rebel activities in Africa have claimed thousands of lives, including children, and the lucky ones who miraculously survived the carnage suddenly become orphans because their parents have been killed.

Just as the year is coming to an end, a natural disaster, "Tsunamis" which has never been recorded in history, hit Asia, claiming over 120,000 lives, injuring scores on its deadly path, and rendering thousands of people homeless.

Life is said to be a delicate balance between planned activities and unexpected circumstances. That doesn't mean that one has to give up in times of crisis. 

Since the year 2004 is gone forever, all our troubles should be buried with it, since the constant thinking of past problems could sometimes act as a stumbling block to our progress.

As the new year arrives, what are our hopes and expectations? Through God, faith, and positive thinking, our hopes and dreams could be a reality. 

As individuals, we must put behind religious conflicts and live in peace to work together to make the year 2005 a prosperous and happy year for all.