Poverty

Poverty- is living with a lack of resources financially, medically, etc.   Living without enough food, clothing, appropriate shelter, or security is devastating to a family.  If as a child you have known nothing else it may be easier to deal with but I doubt that.  As a teacher I have had the unfortunate experience to watch families struggle with this.  The parents would go without food for a day or so just so their children could have something to keep the hunger pains away for a little while longer.  As a school we provided food backpacks to go home with the students on weekends that had snacks and some basic supplies to help get them through the weekend.  Most parents appreciated the offer; one particular family demanded that it come home more often.  We even offered our time and abilities to help parents fill out welfare forms (some parents could not read or write), apply for insurance, or other resources that we knew might help.  The families took advantage of the meals provided at school to help feed their children.  There were still the families that would not let us help them.  I understand the issue of pride and the feeling of embarrassment.  The devastating feeling that you are unable to support your family on your own is one that can send you into a depression that can make things worse.  The families that I was fortunate to be able to help were grateful and worked very hard at keeping the children from knowing what dire situations they were in.  They loved their children more than many families who had everything they needed.  Unfortunately I had the displeasure of working with families who did not work hard to get out of the situation but expected the school, church, and others to support them.  They encouraged the children to beg for handouts and did not use the money they did have wisely. 

Living in poverty can cause a wide range of medical and psychological problems.  Living without clean water to drink or wash in does not help keep an individual healthy.  Germs and bacteria flourish in this environment.  Depression can set in and cause and individual to give up.

The stressors that are a part of the daily life of a child in Africa due to poverty are hunger, lack of health care, lack of education, and improper sanitation.  BUT change has begun.  It may be slow but it is in motion. Organizations such as African Union, donor nations, and NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) have made some great progress. In Kenya they have started free primary education which has allowed 1.2 million children into school.  Tanzania has built 1000 new schools and has recruited 18,000 teachers.  Also there is a movement to provide basic health care for free where the countries choose (Fighting Poverty).   

Resources:

Fighting Poverty-What is being done to help Africa.  Retrieved from http://www.fightpoverty.mmbrico.com/facts/africa.html

Clean water in Africa

Clean water in Africa

We are put out when we get the notice that our water will be shut off for a couple of hours or if the water smells a little “funny”.  We complain that we can only drink “mountain spring water” or bottled water because of the imperfections.  But what would we say if out water was brown instead of clear?  What if you had to carry your water over ten miles to get it back home?  Clean water is something that we take for granite.  We don’t have to carry water in pots on our head.  We are able to go to the sink and get a drink of water.  It may have a taste that we are not fond of but it will not make you violently ill. In Africa people’s health is put into jeopardy by drinking what water they do have access to.  They don’t have an abundance of clean water.  In Kenya young girls spend their days carrying water to their homes from water sources far away.  They are not able to attend school because of this.  Schools are not able to provide education because they don’t have clean water to support students and staff.  Children cannot attend school in some cases because they are at home managing the household due to illnesses of the parents.  The parents are sick from the unclean water they have ingested.  With such basic needs not being met education is not at the top of the list.   Un-developed areas of the world remain in poverty because of unclean water.  If you are sick from drinking unclean water you are unable to work.  Without clean water poverty is a fact of life.

The topic of clean water my not affect my teaching in the big city areas, but if I decide to teach on the reservation near my family it may.  Some families living on the reservations do not have running water or sanitation in their homes.  The topic of clean water does help me understand how devastating an earthquake or other natural disaster can be.  Without clean water public health can be put into jeopardy. 

What clean water would mean-

HIV/AIDS might be manageable with access to clean water.

Infant mortality rates have dropped by 50% where parents are able to have access to clean water.

With clean water people can grow food, build proper housing, stay healthy, and get to school or work.

Resources:

http://thewaterproject.org/poverty.asp#ixzz1GLxCTDP3The water project

Birth Experience

The birth experience I chose was the birth of my son.  This is the only birth I have had experience with that I remember.  He was an unexpected C-section birth.  After many hours of labor and the epidural wearing off, he was stuck.  I decided to go ahead with the C-section and another epidural.  He came out and had an Apgar score of 8.  We did not find out the sex of our child till they delivered him and the nurse said “Well Dad, tell her what we got!”  It was at that moment I knew that my suspicions were right, that we were going to have a beautiful baby boy.

I would like to believe that the birth experience has little to no impact on a child, but I know that I am wrong.  The birth experience has a huge impact on the development of the child, especially if the birth was a traumatic one.  Medical attention needed, the stress level of the mother, the alignment of the stars all have an impact on the development in later life. 

The region I chose to research was a birth center in Rid De Janeiro Brazil.  They use birthing centers to provide a more social event than a medical event.  They want to provide a more home like birth than a sterile birth.  The medical community is not as excited about this as the community.  Some of the centers are being closed due to lack of sterility in the setting and lack of medical equipment.  The centers are run with nursing assistants, social workers, and nutritionists.  The centers provide many services to the community such as classes and prenatal checkups.  The centers do only accept women who are in good health and little risk of complications.   The advantages of giving birth at the center is that your family is with you, you are allowed to get up and move around, give birth in any position you want, and can eat what you want.  You are not separated from family or restricted to a hospital bed and monitors.  The argument against the center is that if complications do arise medical intervention is 20-30 minute ambulance ride away.

I do like the theory behind the centers, have a natural experience for birth.  The experience does sound simple and more relaxed.  My experience was a combination of both worlds.  I was able to have my family near and could get up and move around as I pleased until the epidural.  I was not strapped down to the bed until the C-section began.  I had the sterility of a hospital and medical intervention just seconds away. 

Resources:

Frayssinet, Fabiana. (2011, March) Birth Centres vs. Hospitals. Health Brazil.  Retrieved from http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47318