reading rainbow - 4 april 2014.

Another week. Another list of five interesting articles to power you through your Friday and enjoy over the weekend. After reading, feel free to leave your comments below!

#1: Did you know that Africa's GDP is now growing faster than that of any other continent?
Well it's true, and especially interesting given that farmers make-up 70% of Africa's workforce. However, as Melinda Gates writes, closing Africa's agricultural gender gap is an important step to increased productivity.

Photo Credit: Blogger

#2: Should you help your kids with their homework?
According to the largest-ever study of how parental involvement affects academic achievement, students benefit little (or even regress) from their parents being actively involved in their education.

Photo Credit: Jean Jullien

#3: Last year Wall Street paid out enough in bonuses to double the pay of all full-time minimum-wage workers.
This article from Catholic publication Commonweal looks at the justice issue of income inequality and the need to increase the minimum wage in the United States.

Photo Credit: Harvard Political Review

#4: Maternal mortality rates are falling in every industrialized nation - except the United States.
According the the World Bank, the United States ranks 50th in maternal mortality globally - falling behind every other industrialized nation. In fact, a woman in the United States is as likely to suffer a maternal death as a woman in Iran. Surprised? Then read up on why American women are dying in childbirth.

Photo Credit: GSMA

#5: What does it mean to be an expat?
An American family living in Burundi (also in East Africa) debunks five myths about the expat life.

Photo Credit: Long Miles Coffee Project