Factors Affecting Millennium Development Goals Progress

Factors Affecting Millennium Development Goals Progress Abstract Water and sanitation is a global canker facing the most world population especially in Africa. Policy makers anticipate 80 billion Euros are needed every year to provide basic sanitation to the rural poor to ease poverty, therefore the need to get an in depth view of sanitation lagging behind is paramount. This paper aims to assess the factors causing the slow of progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals(MDG) in low-income countries. The pace are due to inadequate infrastructure systems, skilled labour constraints, insufficient political will and growth of population. It will review current studies in the sector and analyse various constraints that jeopardise the achievement of the sanitation development precisely Ghana. In this review article, published journals, reports, conferences are observed. As a results of the above review factors that is hampering MDG sanitation for Goal 7, it was concluded that policy framework should be put in place whereas government and dono r organisations enforced and invest more in sanitation. The research should assist in the development process in an optimised way of addressing water and sanitation issues and allow better understanding of environmental differing that is triggering the success of MDGs. Keywords Millennium Development Goals ; Ghana; Factors affecting water and sanitation development 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND Currently, 2.6 billion people in the world has no access to adequate sanitation(Marion W.jenkins ,2007) and 1.1 billion lack safe drinking water . (Water Aid,2008)representing to two fifth of the world population, leading up to range of diseases like cholera, a devastating cause of child deaths(Marion W. 2007). In Asia 675 million people are without improved drinking water sources and in sub-Sahara Africa, only 36% has no access to basic sanitation (Christine L. And Richard D.2006).The ability of low-income countries to productively solicit external support to scale –up aid is the major confronting issue today. As vast number of international organisations on the verged to address the problem in developing world whiles envisaging the need for every humanity to have access to basic sanitation, Ghana as part of the sub Saharan Africa will not be able to achieve the MDGs (DFID,2006). UNICEF The World Summit on Sustainable Development(WSSD) in Johannesburg in 2002 adopted an international sanitation target to halve the number of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015.This target now transform its self for water supply in support of the Millennium Development Goal of ensuring environmental sustainability(WELL,2003). Considering figures above, indicates the progress and geographic areas of where water and sanitation has covered as of the year 2002.The enormity of the constraints comes with the acknowledgement that poor state of infrastructure impediments are the cause of not achieving the MDGs(refer to appendix2 ) because 50% of the population cannot access improved services serving as an issue(Antonio E.2005), (UN,2007).William Easterly,2008 argued that the MDG are unfair to Africa because MDGs are poorly and arbitrarily designed to measure progress against poverty and deprivation, and that their design makes Africa looks worse than it really was. Most importan tly, another article stated the need for external donors to increase funding although infrastructure systems is another challenging(hlsp, 2009).Contrary the (UNDP,2008) report reveal that lack of framework made monitory difficult to measure and therefore data availability in other cases was unpredictable for the reason been poor system of infrastructure in some countries for collecting appropriate statistics. Empirically, programmes in sanitation in developing countries has been fruitful and yielding results (Marion W. Jenkins and Beth Scott,2007) yet there is an overwhelming number of people who keep on installing latrines or toilet facilities in their homes without subsidy from donors to improved sanitation. Moreover, the global climate change that policy makers have been preaching, the impact in Africa where water crisis is escalating and water table been high especially in the region of Tamale where is terribly hard to drill a sunken borehole a get water even if there is then is possible it may contained 40% of salt(REVSODEP/SIMAVI,2003). Other studies have shown that climate change is a challenge to the success of the MDG(United Nations Economic and social council,2007). A number of studies have reported MDG trend progress of sanitation in Ghana as shown in (appendix1 and appendix 5) shows a series of attainable indicators how Ghana is progressing even though comments regarding poor infrastructure systems exist (Christine L. And Richard D.,2006) which tends to propel the success of sanitation projects in the developing nations . Similar findings have been made via (UN ,2006)department of economic and social affairs. However, most of these studies were based on different country orientations and gross domestic product(GDP) performance raised at the time the survey was made. As such, Aid scaling –up(Peter S.Heller,2005) to the overriding . International Journal on environment resource public health in Zambia 2006 found that lack of well staffed healt h care facilities, electricity, portable water, roads, adequate transportation and communication facilities contributed immensely to not meeting the sanitation target quiet apart from the political instability of other African region. This analysis is similar to less development of in local and national institutions in south Africa(Neville,G.2003) although south Africa is progressing well as compare to Ghana and others. The following Other objectives will enable us dig out further factors. To make a literature review of MDG in sanitation and evaluate current technology options used. Identify factors seen in other studies. To develop, discuss and analyse data. Make recommendations/strategy for promoting sanitation development. 1.2 Ghana The republic of Ghana is a country in west Africa with a population of about 22.1 million people(iicd,2007).The country was the first sub-saharan Africa country to obtain independence from colonial rules on the 6th of march 1957.Despite the country rich in natural resources such as cocoa, gold, timber, bauxite, salt and lately the discovered crude oil, the country is still in perennial sunk with water and sanitation diseases. After colonial rule the country is divided into 10 different regions which include, Northern region-Tamale, Bolgatanga, upper west region, Ashanti region, Volta region, Brong ahafo region, Central region, Eastern region, Greater Accra and western region(see appendix8) . In Ghana rural population who have access to safe water in 2005 stood at 54%, rural population with access to household latrine 25%, urban population with access to safe water 78% whiles 45% of urban citizens can boost of household latrine(WELL,2004). 2. Skilled labour constraints It has been observed that for the Millennium Development Goal to achieve the set target in the sector of water and sanitation the human resources are vital. Shortages of skilled persons (World bank report,2005), (Lancet,2004)affect the health systems as indicative to progress of the MDGs.Erica User in 2005 indicated that international migration is associated with the non achievement of the MDG which seems to be increasing alarming and no resourceful person to deliver sustained latrines. The general conception that the success of MDG 2015 will be met only when african government invest more in sanitation(Arne B. And Abebe S. 2006) than they do now can be in approperiate in some countries without the necessary manpower skill needed. Conventionally, it will also interest the international community to realiseing the poverty nature in developing countries are more than the recoarse (IWA,2008)and therefore should be examine in different perspective way, progress has been hampered by popul ation growth, unbattled HIV/AIDS, wide spread poverty.The view supported by working policy No.45 of (Goerge Essegbey et al 2007) who discovered that innovation in water and sanitation systems were made but was beyond the capacity of of the local people. Unlike in Kumasi a population of 19% of Ghana population census 2000 where technical drawings were made by a consultants for a contractor to implement the work and due to lack of skills required to execute the Ventilated improvement project with respect to the design specifications ,errors were degenerated due to the fact that local people incorporated bamboo sticks in the facility leading to unsuccessful work done. Comparing the situation in Asia to Ghana,(Ljiljana and Ram,2006) in 32nd WEDC international conference in Sri lanka vividly said institutional capacity building can been noticed as the most hindering factor for MDGs. Professional such as engineers who are knowlegeable, skillful and are suppose to assist Non governmental o rganisation and community based organisations in advocating and trainning the latter were seen non available. Again, sanitation projects were constructed in Nepal as shown in the figure3 below similarly described by (JMP ,2008)is a latrine constructed without a slab cover can be considered unimproved. The latrine was contracted to unskilled contractor without the trainee. Moreover, (Maguire,1990) arguable said Lack of knowledge of lower cost technologies and use of technologies in appropriate for developing countries was given in 1988 as one of the obstacles to decade success. 3. Political will Some studies have shown knowledgeablly that lack of political (appendix 11) williness contributed to the slow progress of water and sanitation development in the south(Trocaire,2005),(IWA,2006), (macho ventura,2008). In Ghana for example,Rural areas and small towns had benefited from cross-subsides on water made possible higher tariffs in larger urban areas. But in preparing for privatisation, the government has eliminated such subsidisation by separating out the more lucrative urban water services. This jeopardised the financial sustainability of rural services(UNDP,2007) policy research brief illustrated. On the other hand, this was been carried due to two or more reasons after the implementation of the scheme and as developing change comeby some policy of government will need to change in order not to cause future catastrophe in the long run. Although Subsides need to be provided in oder to promote equitable access to utility services. Some utilitties have introduce life line tari ffs in which minimal levels of utility services are provided free or at a low cost. Essentially, the UNSGAB,2008 undeniably illustrate that 12% of sub-saharan africa national health budget is spend only in providing sanitation and related health services and 50% of the hospital beds are occupied for the same reason. However, experts predicts by 2015 2.1 billion people will still lack sanitation especially in sub-sahara africa untill 2076 (ENS,2008) news. In contrast, some sub saharan African leaders invest a lot of funds in the area of infrastructure and services in water and sanitation primarily into public sectors with other development partners even though these funds are decreasing for various reasons and the share commercial is financing is still very low. The Ghana water and Sewerage Coporation(GWSC), a public utility charged with the responsibility, among others, of achieving self financing status however due to lack of political will by the government over the years to institute adequate tariffs devastated the finances of the GWSC(George Akosa,1995).This situation ,coupled with the general declined of Ghana economy,resulted in most of the operational water supply projects being in a poor state of repair of lacking the installed capacity to provide adequate service.We will probably say the government does invest is only the population in Africa growing leading the people in an extreme poverty from 44.6% to 46.4% as shown in ap pendix 4,10. Furthermore, Ghana is reported to be on track to meet the target of halving poverty by 2015(UNESC,2008) it is yet uncertain if sanitation will be met. There is an improvement in the HIV but the deadlock is still unmet in basic sanitation.USAID argued that should the current progress continue as it is now only water and sanitation in all countries will be met by 2015 whiles (UN News Center,2008)secretary general Ban Ki Mo affirm lack of political will will be the biggest obtacle to imrpoving sanitation on world water day. (vandemoortele,2002) ,considering the perceptions incurr by similar reports and journals that government investment is far less.(Ekow.E,2008)demonstrated that special issue of energy policy on energy in Africa with case studies on Zambia, etc explained at least the political will of many governments to improve the quality and quantity of energy services as a prerequisite for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. More significantly, unwill giness of government or political interest in sanitation per say,J.Edgardo campos and sanjay pradhan(2007) found that tackling corruption in the water and sanitation sector in some part of Africa was the primary reason for the MDGs not been on target as stipulated. Osumanu Issaka Kanton in Ghana mentioned African governments, like most countries in the developing world, face daunting tasks in their attempts to provide effective and equitable water and sanitation services for their ever increasing urban population,the paper however, contrasted that since the early 1990s the government of Ghana and many local authorities have entered into various public-private partnerships in urban water and sanitation using Tamale as a case studies where private has done nothing invigorated public sector not have achieved and therefore concluded that there can be no sustainable improvement in water and sanitation provision without political commitment, stakeholder ownership and strong support for co mmunity driven initiatives(2008) 4.Over population Poulation change seen as the major propeling factor for the MDGs in developing country with regards to water and sanitation(UNWPP,2005), (ENS,2008). fig 8 shows summary in the graph. The data from these graph was available from mainly from the estimates an medium variant. USAID monitoring report for 2006 MDGs, for instance, found that family planning practice will enhance the unmet MDGs to achieve the Goals by reducing the size of the targetted population groups which will then lowering the costs of meeting the MDGs in Sub-saharan Africa. Fig 9 table I.1 illustrates the report survey.Untill recently, (Esmarie Swanepoel,2008) publised article detailing africa falling behind on millennium development goals-UN as the proportion of people in sub saharan africa living below poverty decreased from 55.7% in 1990, to 50.3% in 2005. However, because of the population growth, the number of people in the region living in extreme poverty, grew by 100 million over the period. Using the below proj ections, the author (Dr.Jean –C. 2006 ) and others have reported distinct effect population growth has on Sub-sahara in terms of unsafe drinking water and sanitation in meeting the MDGs by the anticipated or stipulated year. Factually, the world health organisation (WHO,2004) annual assessment report substaintiate by saying that the world is on track to meet the drinking water target, but sub-sahara africa lags behind and conflict and political instability is a contributory factor with high rate of population growth and low priority given to water and sanitation will be a mirage. The paper concluded that whats more is the reason been the breakdown of water supply systems in rural africa is of high rates. One of the effective approaches shown to be accetable and helping the progress process drawn by the paper was decentralising responsibility and ownership and providing a choice of service level to communties based on their willingness and ability to pay.Urban population growt h was estimated to increased in growth in developing countries from 1.9 billion to 3.9 billion 2030, averaging 3.2% per year which is a major challenge for achieving MDG sanitation(UNESCO IHE,2007). The diagramme in fig 8 and fig9 indicates the percentage of the population living in major cities. The arguement goes to intensify the fact that water supply and sanitation will be an acute shorter for a decades to come. Source :UNICEF(data online) 5. Conclusion In short this paper looks at the slow progress of Millennium Development Goals with focus in developing countries especially sub saharan africa with respect to water and sanitation and various factors affecting the progress.The article then went further in reviewing various studies and literature presented by authors , analysing other views in the subject area and detailing sanitation situation in the case of Ghana. It was found that the systems of infrastructure has made it difficult for the MDGs team to montior effectively the progress and concrete availability of data was inevitable for correlation in knowing the exact people in sub saharan africa that are not covered as far as water and sanitation is concern. Governments interest in investing much funds in sanitary projects was seen lagging other projects in Africa even like health sectors was seen stampeding such as water sector was progressing steadily as compared to specifically sanitation due to high poverty in some countries and HIV/AIDS among others demanding. Therefore,the was the need for donor organisations to increase aid for the developing world. High population growth and inapproperiate use of low technologies were another contributory constraints in achieving the MDG since the number of populates in african countries was increased drastically by a substantial amount with diseases and malnutrion been high among children 0-5 years of age and rising in birth was due to either unexpected pregnancy or unaware or misapplication of farmily planning medicine at their possession. Skilled labour constraints therefore was one of the impediments that contributed tremendously bad towards the goals of the MDG in wardly due to the fact that skilled migrates leave the developing countries not only for better salaries and rumerations but virtue of better health care systems in developed world. In some cases institutional capacity building was seen as vital challenge for the MDGs in africa which some where in Asia for example Nepal it was much the same similarity. However, despite various studies been carried out by viable institutions and authors with different methods of approaches in addressing the Millennium Development Goals in water and sanitation, the plans has little consistency between different countries , thus making it difficult for policy makers to measure and track progress and so therefore Septentie appraisal of attitudes of stakeholders to the factors limiting progress to MDG. Acknowledgements The Author wish to acknowledge other writers for their assidious and great workdone and for the support provided by Dr.John Williams of Portsmouth University. It is also our pledge to send our sincere gratitude for the University Liberians for their kind gesture and contributions towards and during the literature review session. 8. Reference Summary of reference; JOURNALS PLUS PDFs REPORTS FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS : GOVERNMENT WEBSITES and ICE TWO BOOKS : Marion W. Jenkins and Beth Scott(2007). Behavioural indicators of household decision-making and demand for sanitation and potential gains from social marketing in Ghana. Journal of Social science and medicine,64(2007),2427-2442. Frederick Dubee (2008): Water Aid International-water Aids key facts statistics http://www.clubofrome.org/eng/meetings/winterthur_2008/presentations/Prof_Frederick_Dubee_Wateraid.pdf Christine L. Moe and Richard D. Rheingans (2006). Global challenges in water, sanitation and health. Journal of water and health Vol .04 DFID (2009) factsheets: water and sanitation //www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/mdg-factsheets/water-factsheet-2006.pdf Rebecca S. Et al(2003), Sanitation and the poor: WELL Resource centre Network for water sanitation and environment Health. www.Iboro.ac.uk/WELL Antonio E.(2005),World bank and universite libre de bruxelles: Draft working paper comments welcome. What do we know about sub-saharan africas infrastructure and the impact of its 1990,reform? Vol.4 William Easterly(2007)Global Economy and development working paper 14. How the Millennium Development Goals are unfair to Africa http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2007/11_poverty_easterly/11_poverty_easterly.pdf Mark Pearson,(2009)hlsp institute, technical report paper. Achieving the MDGs:at what cost? http://www.dfidhealthrc.org/what_new/macroecon_health_PearsonFeb09.pdf UNDP(2008).The Millennium Development Goals report: End poverty millennium development goals,make it happen.http://www.undp.org/publications/MDG_Report_2008_En.pdf Peter S.Heller(2005) IMF working paper WP/05/180. Pity the Finance minister issues in managing a substantial Scaling up of Aids Flows. www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2005/wp05180.pdf DESA,(2006).International symposium on international migration and development. Journal number UN/POP/MIG/SYMP/2006/04: International migration and the achievement of MDGs in Africa http://www.uneca.org/sdd/documents/P04_ECA.pdf IICD(2007) Ghana population. www.iicd.org/countries/ghana WEDC,(2004). WELL country note1.1. The poverty millennium development Goal:what water,sanitation and hygiene can do in Ghana. www.Iboro.ac.uk/well/resources/publications/country%20notes/CN1.%20ghana.htm Book: J.Edgardo Campos and Sanjay Pradhan(2007). The many faces of corruption tackling corruption in the water and sanitation sector in Africa-starting dialogue.publish 2007 by world bank. Osumanu Kanton,(2008). Environmental management vol.42 pages 102-110 published july 2008. By springer 233 spring st.New york, Ny10013 USA. Esmarie S.(2008). Africa falling behind UN millennium Goals-UN http://www.polity.org.za/article/africa-falling-behind-on-millennium-development-goals-un-2008-09-12 Dr.Jean et al(2006), powerpoint presentation. The effects of population growth on the achievement of the MDG on child mortality in Urban sub-saharan Africa. www.app-popdevrh.org.uk/publication%20hearings/evidence/jc%20fotso%20oral%20evidence%20paper.ppt Arne B.and Abebe S. (2006). Economic comission of Africa ,policies for growth and poverty reduction in africa:How to reach the Millennium Development Goals. http://www.uneca.org/prsp/cairo/documents/Theme1_Growth.pdf IWA(2008),Global:world water day messages predict MDG problems for Africa. http://www.iwapublishing.com/template.cfm?name=news133 George Essegbey et al (2007),Assessment of community water and sanitation in Ghana. ATPS Working paper series No.45. published by the aAfrican technology Policy studies network. http://www.atpsnet.org/pubs/workingpaper/Working%20Paper%20Series%2045.pdf Ljiljana and Ram(2006). Sustainable Development of water resources , water supply and environmental sanitation. Capacity needs to achieve the UN MDG target 10 in Asia http://wedc.lboro.ac.uk/publications/pdfs/32/Rodic-Weirsma.pdf JMP (2008), Core questions on drinking water and sanitation for household surveys. http://www.wssinfo.org/pdf/WHO_2008_Core_Questions.pdf D.P.Maguire(1990). Appropriate development for basic needs. Institution of Civil engineers published by thomas Telford 1991,london p.145water and sanitation Khatri K.B and Vairavamoorthy K. (2007), UNESCO-IHE institute for water education. Challenges for urban water supply and sanitation in the developing countries -Discussion Draft paper.Published in Delft Netherlands www.unescoihe.org/content/download/1016/11873/file/9.paper%20urbanisation%20kala% 20draft.pdf Emmanuel Ekow Asmah(2008). Assessing the links between energy services and the MDGs:Isa MAMs application for Ghana possible? An interim paper presented at the CSAE conference 2008 on Economic Development in Africa at St. Catherines College, Oxford. Trocaire(2005)Dublin. The MDGs:A critical discussion. Trocaire development review ,dublin 2005,pp.43-56 ISSN 0790-9403 http://www.nuigalway.ie/dern/documents/tdr_2005_mdg_a_critical_discussion.pdf UNDP(2007),Policy research brief. Privatising Basic utilities in sub-saharan Africa: The MDG impact. No.3 http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/pub/IPCPolicyResearchBrief3.pdf George Akosa(1995), Efficiency of water-supply and sanitation projects in Ghana. Journal of infrastructure systems vol. 1 paper No. 6118. USAID(2006). Making the case for U.S. International family planning assistance. The contribution of fulfilling the unmet need for family planning. http://www.jhsph.edu/gatesinstitute/_pdf/policy_practice/Papers/MakingtheCase.pdf Erica Usher(2005).The millennium Development Goals and Migration. International organisation for migration research series NO.20 http://www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/published_docs/serial_publications/mrs20.pdf Jan vandemoortele (2002), Are the MDGs Feasible? United Nations Development Programme Bureau for Development Policy. http://www.socialwatch.org/en/acercaDe/beirut/documentos/VANDERMOORTELE.pdf UN(2007).UN news center, UN mark world water day with calls for integrated management of vital resource. http://www.un.org/apps/news/storyAr.asp?NewsID=21951Cr=waterCr1= WHO/UNICEF(2004).Meeting the MDG drinking water and sanitation target: A mid-term assessment of progress. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmp04.pdf Khatri K.B. (2007) UNESCO-IHE institute for water Education. Challenges for urban water supply and sanitation in developing countries. Discussion draft paper. www.unesco-ihe.org/content/download/1016/11873/file/9.paper%20isation%20kala%20.pdf Health and Poverty All over the world, the cost of health care is usually quite high. Poor families have worse health conditions than those with higher incomes. Health is paramount for poor people and in most instances, their very environment is a threat to them. Improving environmental conditions including providing water, sanitation and solid waste management services is basic to the creation of sustainable livelihoods and the elimination of poverty. Water related diseases like guinea worm and trachoma still plague portions of West Africa. A person suffering from guinea worm looses a lot of productive farm time which reduces their income. Ghana is currently one of the leading guinea worm endemic countries in the world. Lack of political will biggest obstacle to improving sanitation – Secretary-General 22 March 2008 – A lack of political will remains the greatest obstacle to efforts to drastically reduce the number of people without access to basic sanitation and clean, running water, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, calling on the international community to take firmer and faster steps to tackle the problem. If we take up the challenge, the positive impact will reverberate far beyond better access to clean water, Mr. Ban said in a message to mark World Water Day, which is celebrated today. This years Day also coincides with the International Year of Sanitation. Every dollar invested in water and sanitation yields an estimate seven dollars worth of productive activity. And that comes on top of the immeasurable gains in cutting poverty, improving health and raising living standards. The Secretary-General described it as unconscionable that a child dies on average every 20 seconds because of sub-standard sanitation conditions – a situation endured by an estimated 2.6 billion people worldwide, or more than a third of the global population – that are preventable. Poor sanitation combines with a lack of safe drinking water and inadequate hygiene to contribute to the terrible global death toll. Those who survive face diminished chances of living a healthy and productive existence. Children, especially girls, are forced to stay out of school, while hygiene-related diseases keep adults from engaging in productive work. Halving the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) devised at a global leaders summit in 2000, but the world is far behind the pace to achieve that by the target date of 2015, Mr. Ban said. Experts predict that by 2015, 2.1 billion people will still lack basic sanitation. At the present rate, sub-Saharan Africa will not reach the target until 2076. This years World Water Day also coincides with the International Year of Sanitation. Population growth, widespread poverty and insufficient investment are among the key obstacles, but the Secretary-General noted that the biggest culprit is the lack of political will. Events are being held around the world this weekend to highlight World Water Day, including the staging of a public toilet queue demonstration to raise awareness about the sanitation crisis around the globe. A similar event was held in New Yorks Central Park on Thursday. Wold bank graphic showing the failure of Africa to meet the MDGs.

Extended commentary of ‘On the Departure Platform’ by Thomas Hardy Essay

On the Title: This is obviously a metaphor for the ending of a â€Å"moment†, as well as the literal description of the place where many of the images (within the poem) are based; on a train platform, where the persona and his female love interest part. The title introduces the poem’s key theme to the reader – a separation of young love, but not a permanent one. As one reads further into the poem itself, the persona comments on the painful fact that humanity leaves behind time as well. Overall Structure: Hardy writes in 6 stanzas of English quatrains with an alternate rhyme scheme (a similar technique used in other poems) to concentrate the poem. The last line of these stanzas is conspicuously shorter than the others – usually four or five syllables to the other nine or ten. Hardy does this to a) draw attention to them but also b) to the theme they nearly all have in common. They all illustrate, in the first four stanzas, a diminuation in the woman’s size; as an optical effect, she gets smaller the further she moves away into the crowd. This, in some ways, adds to the poignancy of the poem. Themes: Time (the way that it works), Distance, Pain Difficult Language Notes: ‘Nebulous’ means cloudy. First Stanza Notes: Hardy’s poem is full of visual ideas – they are continuous to provide an important effect to be later considered. Thus his opening line is of an image; â€Å"We kissed at the barrier; and passing through/ She left me.† Hardy intentionally uses a stark and blunt image – the enjambment highlights the phrases â€Å"passing through† (immediately presenting images of movement, perhaps through Time as well) and â€Å"She left me†. One can feel the emotion in that conspicuously short phrase. â€Å"And moment by moment got/ Smaller and smaller.† Continuing with the diminuation of the woman’s figure, Hardy uses mirroring comparatives to emphasize the change. The stanza then ends with the shortened line; ‘She was but a spot;’. Notice the empty sounds in ‘spot’, but the harsh consonance – it invokes a decisively negative emotion. Also note the semicolon at the end of the line. The sense of the sentence continues into the next stanza; viewing the poem as a whole is crucially important. Second Stanza Notes: Again, Hardy presents an image; ‘A wee white spot of muslin fluff’ – the use of the word fluff (as in a fluffy cloud) is complimented by the use of ‘nebulous white’ later on. Hardy imagines the woman as a cloud; an indistinct mass of hazy material. This is important metaphorically. We receive no description of the woman’s face, only her clothing. She has no name, no identity; this memory of a by-gone moment whilst in love (as revealed later) bears none of the crucial intimacy that one would expect such a relationship to possess. You would expect a lover to be able to remember at least facial features! This lack of distinction is to be later explored. Hardy introduces his ideas about perspective and sight in this stanza. He introduces key renaissance optical theory in the line ‘down that diminishing platform bore’. This is the idea of two converging lines eventually reaching a vanishing point. The diminishing platform mirrors the diminishing view of the woman – is this (metaphorically) an emotional statement along with a literal visual one? Note; ‘through hustling crowds of gentle and rough’ refers to the class system of ‘gentlefolk’ and the ‘rough’ of the lower classes. Its only importance is in distinguishing between the figure of the woman and the crowd – the persona is only focussed on her! Third Stanza Notes: Hardy then explores the same image further, with a focus on colour contrast: â€Å"Under the lamplight’s fitful glowers, Behind dark groups from far and near, Whose interests were apart from ours, She would disappear,† Hardy compares the darkness of the scene – which is, remember, in a typically smoky Victorian railway station – to the pure white of the woman’s dress. It stands out. Indeed, he focuses entirely upon this image, as it is the beauty of it which he wishes to recall; therefore, all other individuals become ‘dark’ metaphoric areas in his memory. The line â€Å"Their interests were apart from ours† further advances this – the persona does not care about any other intentions other than his own, and perhaps his partner’s. It could be argued that Hardy creates an intimidating scene around the woman. ‘Glowers’ are angry expressions. The fact that they are considered ‘fitful’ – or appropriate – for the occasion reveals an odd nuance in the persona’s attitude. If it is appropriate, then is the persona angry too? Why would he be? Upset, understandably, but is he frustrated at losing his love? Or is he angry at slowly losing the moment (in terms of memory) itself? On a final note, observe how there is a comma at the end of the stanza. This allows the sense of Hardy’s verse to ‘roll on’, like an exaggerated form of enjambment. Fourth Stanza Notes: Hardy does this to invite comparison between the segmented lines: â€Å"She would disappear,/ Then show again,† He emphasizes the apparent suddenness of the woman’s appearances, whilst also increasing a sense of distance between the figure and the persona. Note how she ‘flickers’ – is this flickering due to a slow loss of clear recollection of memory? This is a nice idea! The figure of the woman herself changes in the following lines, either in memoriam or literally (â€Å"that flexible form, that nebulous white,†). Despite occupying the persona’s entire mental capacity, the image lacks any definition in terms of facial or emotional features. This is highly inconsistent with the idea that the persona cherishes her! (As, indeed, he confirms; â€Å"she who was more than my life to me†.) Why compare an individual whom one should know so well to a cloud? In any case, it is at this point that the figure disappears entirely, with a noticeable ellipse. Here Hardy comes out of his historic mood and into a (near) present tense. Fifth and Sixth Stanzas Notes: Hardy once again comes to the point of his poem at the end, in a comment upon the inability to retain a moment, and the irony of suspending such a moment in literary form. Although the persona views the memory fondly, and has penned â€Å"penned new plans since†, there is a decided lack of evidence for any future physical recurrences of the woman. It is perhaps suggested, therefore, that the relationship has ended at this point – in terms of language, the persona has yet to see her again and maybe never will. Indeed, Hardy uses polysyndeton and recurring dashes, along with the conditional tense to emphasize the uncertainty as to the relationship’s future. Hardy’s point does not regard the relationship, however – therefore the truth is left purposely unclear. By contrast, the aim of the poem is to point to the fact that â€Å"nought happens twice thus† – the persona will never experience such a moment again. This idea is introduced in the last line of the fifth stanza (â€Å"But never as then!†), in a phrase made noticeable through its contracted nature. Then Hardy switches to a present tense exchange. â€Å"-And why, young man, must eternally fly A joy you’ll repeat if you love her well? * O friend, nought happens twice thus; why, I cannot tell!† Whilst also emphasizing the persona’s youth, Hardy makes his tragic point clear once again. However, there exists an irony rooted in his words. For, due to the existence of the poem itself, it can be argued that the moment is quite attainable (as proved above!), but through the use of literary suspension.

Reconfiguration of Invoices and Payment Methods Essay

This proposal lays out the benefits and impact of applying technology in order to reconfigure invoicing and payment method acceptance at Sunny’s Landscaping. The company suffers from low collection rates and long collection times. Its traditional method of work and invoicing is both ineffective and costly. Additional staff is required just to attempt to collect past due bills which are oftentimes erroneous and outdated. Moreover, the company would further benefit from a customer database that would compile all work orders and reduce or eliminate redundancy. The lack of technology use has put the company at a disadvantage in the industry. Problem The issues to be addressed are to lessen collection time of payments while simultaneously reduce overhead costs, create a customer database that can be accessed through marketing, finance, and customer service departments, and greatly improve upon operational processes. Approach Establish if implementing a handheld credit card acceptance method at the point-of-sale will effectively reduce payment collection time and give the company a competitive advantage. Further determine if electronic invoicing and database creation will eliminate redundancy and reduce costs. Methodology Meet with appropriate department heads—finance, customer service, operations, marketing—to determine how each will benefit by the reconfiguration and how to maximize profits from those benefits. Decide which database program would be most compatible for meeting the needs of the organization. Additionally, establish the costs and time associated with educating and training staff on the products and software being introduced. Allocate the time and expense and determine the best quarter to implement the changes. Company expenses, due to lack of payment collection and overhead, severely cut into profits. Immediate payment by way of a mobile credit card processing adapter at time of service will help increase company profitability and efficiency. Each program will tie into the next. The credit card processor will automatically generate electronic invoices to be emailed to the customer. These invoices will be housed in a database that will collect and store releva nt customer information. The impact on the company as a whole will be positive as departments will have the ability to share information and collaborate for optimal efficiency. Milestone 1 Problem The issues to be addressed are to lessen collection time of payments while simultaneously reduce overhead costs, create a customer database that can be accessed through marketing, finance, and customer service departments, and greatly improve upon operational processes. Company Background Sunny’s Landscaping was formed in 1976 by one man in Pennsylvania and started operations with only two additional employees. Sunny’s provides construction of ponds & rock walls, irrigation, lawn maintenance, flowerbed design, and all landscaping needs to its customers. It has grown to employ as many as seventy-five people and has net revenues of almost one million dollars per year. Sunny’s (The Company) services both residential and commercial properties with commercial generating nearly 75% of its annual revenues. In the early 1990’s the Company began providing additional services, such as snow removal and ice buildup prevention that would allow it to stay operational year-round. With these additional services came an increase in new accounts; most of which have been residential. The profit increase with respect to the new accounts has been mediocre at best. The Company’s inability to collect payment on the new residential accoun ts has begun to severely decrease profits and it has been proposed to reduce services. In an effort to continue all service and grow, the Company has begun to seek solutions. Approach Internal financial research has shown that decreased profits are due to a multitude of issues including the high number of delinquent or late accounts, excessive staffing expenses, and a general lack of sufficient and effective use of technology. Determine if introducing a new method of point-of-sale payment collection will reduce expenses related to residential accounts. Further determine if an electronic invoicing process will enable the Company reduce staffing costs while simultaneously creating a customer database. Methodology Convene with all the appropriate departments—finance, customer service, operations, & marketing—to determine how a database should be constructed so it is cross functional for each department. The company currently uses Microsoft Access for its customer list. Information pulled from this list is oftentimes outdated and erroneous. It is inappropriate software to use in order to transfer customer information to an invoice. This process increases work hours and is redundant. As work orders are issued and workers are dispatched, each should be provided with the ability to adjust the invoice electronically onsite for immediate customer payment. The method used now is to issue the order, perform the work, adjust the invoice if necessary, and then mail it out in the traditional fashion. The increase in new residential customers has also caused an increase in non-payment. The use of a mobile credit card processor could help reduce this payment delinquency. Options/Solutions Sunny’s Landscaping has very little collaboration amongst its departments and few tools to work with. Each department is independently operated from the others and has not yet adapted to the influx of residential accounts. Whereas, the larger commercial accounts are well known and recognized, the smaller residential accounts are given very little customer service. The Company must find a solution that will reconcile both the residential and commercial accounts with company’s overall needs and each department’s ability to operate. One centralized system would allow the Company to function as a whole. The Company has a need for a system that can accomplish three goals: 1. Generate invoices 2. Allow for point-of-sale credit card processing 3. Create a database that is cross functional All three systems must work in tandem and allow information to flow from one process to the next. For example, as work is completed a foreman requires the ability to generate an invoice on the spot. Then they must also have the ability to accept payment from the customer. Lastly, the customer’s information and work performed must be electronically transferred into the database where other departments will be able to access it for a follow-up service. Marketing could use the information for promotional mailers, customer service could use it to obtain feedback, finance would use it for records, and operations could use it to find out the type of service performed. If one system can be constructed that will support all three functions, it will reduce costs company wide, allow for customer informat ion to be used effectively throughout all departments, and increase profits while reducing delinquent accounts. Milestone 2 Sunny’s Landscaping will need to research further to determine if and what additional resources will be required to reconfigure its invoicing and payment methods. It must also determine how much training will be required for frontline workers and supporting staff. Sunny’s Landscaping should consider the following questions prior to making a decision about which software and hardware to use: 1. What point-of-sale device will allow for data to be stored in a database and extracted for invoicing? a. Is there one device that is superior over the other in price and performance? b. Will this device need any additional in-house hardware to function? c. Will customer’s financial and personal information be stored and processed securely; how can we ensure customers that it is? 2. How long, if at all, will funds be held for before deposit? 3. Will one database be able to support all the functions that each department requires? 4. Can prior customer’s information be easily entered into the new database? 5. Will a lack of mobile or internet connection affect point-of-sale processing; and if so, how are payments accepted otherwise? Point-of Sale Device The two most compatible devices with Sunny’s Landscaping needs are SquareUp and Intuit GoPayment. Each device works similar to one another. Research has shown the greatest differences are in payment deposit time and customer service. SquareUp appears to have a longer slower deposit time of funds, especially with new accounts. Moreover, the first few months of service do not allow new customers to withdraw entire deposit amounts. According to the SquareUp website, this payment hold is to reduce fraud. GoPayment by Intuit seems to have the greatest customer satisfaction. GoPayments device hardware also seems to be of a better, more secure design as can be seen in the figure below.

Existentialism studies being, aims to find meaning of life

Essay Sample on Existentialism Existentialism is defined as the study of being. It is a philosophy that struggles to find the true meaning and purpose of life. Existentialism therefore deals with the choices and ambiguity brought about by the circumstances that man must deal with when making life choices. In its explanation, existentialism states that the decision is important because it defines us as human beings and that every time we make a choice, we do it for the whole mankind since it is that act of choosing or decision that we create what it means to be human (The Atheist Scholar, 2012). The philosophy date back to the 19th century and was greatly influenced by the Russian novelist Ftyondor Dostoesvsky. Soren Kierkegaard made it fully develop as well as Martin Heidegger. However, the philosophy reached its completion as a philosophy in the 20th century following the contribution of the prominent French philosophers’ jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Albert Camus. Ever since, the philosophy got roots and spread and it was embraced by intellectuals worldwide including America where William Barret and Hazel Barnes were important thinkers who propagated existential thought in the U.S. The Holocaust was the time in history between 1933 and 1945 when the leader of Germany, the great dictator Adolf Hitler used his power and believes that the Germans were the better race and consequently applied torturous and in humane methods to eliminate the Jews (JVL, 2013). Hitler’s method began with legislation and terror which included burning Jew’s books, and removing them from the professional and public schools. The extremes came when the Nuremberg Laws were enacted in 1935 and formed the legal basis for the exclusion of the Jews from the Germany society and restricting their policies. The continued reign of Hitler established hatred against the Jews and he wanted to eliminate the in German and the whole of Europe, consequently, the Jews were confined to the ghettos. They were later deported into the death camps where they were executed in what Hitler called the Final solution. The torture the Jews underwent and the great number of death had a long lasting impac t on the Jews life and on religion as a whole. The destruction caused by the holocaust cut so deeply in the Jewish community and it remains a major question if the community will ever be fully healed from its effects. This is particularly the loss of a large number of lives and the loss of religious faith. The holocaust witnessed the extermination of thirty percent of the Jewish community including scholars, children, students, teachers of Torah and religious leaders; Rabbis (Irving, 1982). On top of all these, the extent of evil that was encountered by the survivors of the holocaust during the event created a rupture in the traditional religious thought which resulted in challenging both trust in the goodness of God and the goodness of humanity. During the holocaust, it is believed that the bad and the evil survived while most of the righteous died. Hitler’s plan was to make the Jews extinct, however, due to the high demand of soldiers he had to utilize even the Jews in fighting his enemies. The good and righteous like th e rabbis could not corporate in such missions. This so their extermination in large numbers and most people after the war were left to wonder why God would allow the death of the innocent and leave out the betrayers f their faith and collaborators of evil. The holocaust made the world not to be the same and the trust on God has reduced. The holocaust left a blemish on creation and it may remain dormant since nobody knows when such evil events may occur again. This is because the aftermath of holocaust to many Jews and other affected religions or communities of the world has not healed. The holocaust in many instances defies meaning and also negates hope as traditional Jewish thought understands God as the author of history and therefore, the holocaust raises issues on how God could be a part of such an evil plan (Irving, 1982). Additionally, the holocaust threatened the survival of the Jewish and their religious belief. When so much evil is committed against a community that is so much attached to God, people tend to wonder where God is not responding and rescue them. The holocaust therefore made people have a closer examination in the religious beliefs and the faith they had in God was somehow affected in a negative way. The rational justification of faith in God who let innocent children due in such terror as they did in the death camps during the holocaust is impossible. Rabbi Irving Greenberg, a Jewish theologian claims that there is no statement, either theological or otherwise, that should be made and not be credible in the presence of burning children (Irving, 1982). This shows how the Jewish faith in God is affected as they see Him as an almighty God who protects the innocent. The actions of the Nazis were a demonstration of a religious failure where the Jewish expected God to save them or even the young children from the hands of the Germans but the so much wished for salvation was not forthcoming. This left them with questions on the ability of God in saving humanity and thus they see the holocaust time as the period when the Israelites covenant with God was broken. When the covenant was broken, the faith and trust they had in him declined. Therefore, the covenant needs to be repaired so tha t the Jewish can have trust they in God like they did before. The holocaust brought about secular Judaism. The idea put forward by Rubenstein that the God of history or an illusion went so deep in the heart of the Jewish (Rubenstein, 1999). A high percentage of the Israeli Zionist call themselves the secular Jews because even if the follow and practice the Jewish traditional cultural heritage, they do not associate themselves with the religious traditions of Judaism but consider themselves as atheists or agnostics. The secular Jewish in that case are more into existentialism and advocate for humanity. As Sartre puts it in Existentialism and Humanism that existentialism is a teaching and a doctrine that affirms that every truth and action imply on the environment and human subjectivity. Therefore, the teachings of existentialism are based on humanism and the way to live with one another like human. It is the existence of us in the world where we do no evil that can harm ourselves or the other humans. Bad faith as advocated by Sartre is when we try to avoid our freedom and we place ourselves in a false position. Like the secular Judaism group that has placed itself in a false position in the Judaism religion. They know they live in a meaningless world full of chaos and absurdity that creates a crisis like the holocaust (Sartre, 2000). Camus asks whether man should commit suicide when faced with the meaningless of life; when he demand meaning for the events that happen in the world and yet the world has no meaning. It is in such situations that the holocaust caused the corruption of the Jewish to the extent of committing religious suicide and deflected to what they called secular Judaism. Works Cited Irving Greenberg, â€Å"Religious Values after the Holocaust: A Jewish View,† in Jews and Christians after the Holocaust, ed. Abraham J. Peck (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1982), 76. JVL. An Introductory History of the Holocaust | Jewish Virtual Library.  Home | Jewish Virtual Library. 2013. Web. 17  Dec.  2013. Rubenstein, Richard. â€Å"After Auschwitz.† In Contemporary Jewish Theology: A Reader. Edited by Elliot N. Dorff and Louis E. Newman. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1999. Sartre, Jean-Paul, and Stephen Priest.  Jean-Paul Sartre: Basic Writings. New York: Routledge,  2000. Print. The Atheist Scholar: Existentialism.  Home: The Atheist Scholar. 2012.