Earlier in the course, I chose to contact 2 early childhood professionals outside of the U.S. However, I have not received a response from either of them. I am currently proceeding with the podcast that features early childhood professionals.
Delfena Mitchell is the director of the Liberty Children's Home on the outskirts of Belize. Many of the children she works with were abused, abandoned or neglected. I really appreciate her sharing her work with some very special children. According to Ms. Mitchell, a 9 year old boy named Joseph came to live in the program. He had not been able to speak for over a year because he had been abused and witnessed his sister being abused. He totally shut down. Ms. Mitchell and her staff worked with Joseph by home-schooling him. This failed. On 1 particular day, Ms. Mitchell and Joseph went horse-back riding and Joseph suddenly started speaking. He revealed to Ms. Mitchell gruesome details of his grandmother beating him with a stick. Joseph also explained how he would hide under the bed so that others would not take away his food while he was eating. Once the horse ride was over, Joseph began to shut down and stop talking again. Ms. Mitchell felt a sense of relief because progress had been made. After a combination of medication and schooling, Joseph now speaks everyday. I've gained an insight that 1 person can make a difference in the life of at least 1 child. As professionals, we should never give up on a child.
Many of India's children are affected by poverty, making their lives extremely difficult. I've learned that almost 62 million children under the age of 5 are malnourished and 34% of newborns are significantly underweight. Unfortunately poverty is a vicious cycle of disadvantages that begins at birth, continues through childhood to motherhood. It is then transferred to the next generation. As a professional, I can't save the world, but I will make donations that will improve the life of 1 or more children. The issue of poverty will victimize many in the future years, but millions of caring people can afford to help in some way!
References
http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/
Hi Tiffiney, I listen to Delfena Mitchell podcast too. It was very interesting to learning that children across the world go through a similar situation in the U.S. My heart aches for Joseph and his sister; I cannot imagine how he felt hiding under the bed while his sister went through that. This podcast has reminded me to look at all issues in a global aspect.
ReplyDeleteThank you,
Andrea Cureton
Hello Tiffiney Carter,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, we should never give up on a child. The day to day job of a teacher is not always easy. Through bad and good experiences, I have learned to make myself feel better as I used to feel down if I did not make a difference in all the children's lives I worked with. I feel that if I can at least change the life of a child for the better each day, I feel I have succeeded that day. Sometimes change does not occur in one moment, one school day or even within a school year but every bit of assistance helps to get a child to feel better about themselves and develop healthier.