Mannafit: a Vanderbilt Tradition

January may mean cold and snow for some, but for the MPI Vanderbilt chapter, it means the annual Mannafit event. There were over 300 attendees at this year's Mannafit to support all the MPI Vanderbilt chapter spring break groups that plan to spend their week off in March, supporting Manna Project and various other nonprofit organizations in Latin America. Vanderbilt has had a Manna chapter since the inception of the organization, and consistently sends a full group of spring break volunteers to each of Manna's three sites in Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Guatemala each March. On top of this, the Vanderbilt Chapter typically sends about 10 other groups of students to volunteer with like-minded organizations all over Latin America.

This year, 20 awesome items were auctioned off at Mannafit, such as Nashville Predators tickets and gift certificates to fabulous restaurants in Nashville, raising over $800 on the silent auction alone. We are super proud of our Vanderbilt Manna chapter and are so excited to see the excellent projects they complete during spring break!

To a smashing success! What an incredible tradition.

Read of the Week: Youth Data Sheet 2013

This "Read of the Week" delivers staggering statistics to show development across the globe. Fertility and childbearing are a common indicator of development, as the risk of maternal death and disability is much higher for adolescents than for mothers in their 20's. In addition, early childbearing can also limit women's opportunities.

Unsurprisingly, Adolescent Fertility Rates (AFR) are much higher in developing countries than they are in developed countries. This indicator measures the number of births per 1,000 women ages 15-19 all over the world, and the difference between developed and developing countries is astonishing. Most developing countries were given a rate of nearly 100, whereas, most developed countries possessed an AFR of less than 20. We decided to see where Nicaragua and Ecuador faired on this scale, and both countries come in high, with Nicaragua at 104, and Ecuador coming in at 80.

For more interesting comparisons of youth from all reaches of the world, check out this very interesting article published by the Population Reference Bureau.