Childhood Poverty
Over 600 million children worldwide live in absolute poverty - an estimated 1 in 4. In many countries, rates are much higher with over 60 percent of children living in households with incomes below international poverty lines. Over 10 million children under five still die every year from preventable diseases - the vast majority of them in developing countries. As one of the most powerless groups in society, children often bear the physical and emotional costs of poverty (www.childhoodpoverty.org).
One of these costs is abuse, both physical and mental. This week, I listened to Delfena Mitchell speak. She is the Director of the Liberty Children’s Home, on the outskirts of Belize City. This program opened in the summer of 2005 and is licensed to house up to 40 children, predominantly between birth to 5 years of age. However, older children who have younger siblings in care are and will always be accommodated. All of the children at the care center have been abandoned, abused or orphaned and many have disabilities, special needs or are HIV positive (www.worldforumfoundation.org). While listening to Delfena speak, she really tugged at my heartstrings when she spoke of one of the boys, named Joe, in the Children’s Home. Joe had come with his six older siblings, and was so severely neglected and abused that he hadn’t spoken at all for a whole year. The first time he did speak was with Delfena during an outing riding horses. He told her of what he had come from, how he had been abused, seen his sister abused, and had to hide under his bed to eat so that his food wouldn’t be taken by the other children or adults.
It is so hard for me to wrap my mind around abusing a defenseless child, or stealing what little food they have right out of their hands. Belize is not the only place that this happens, and there are too many children living like this in poverty. Throughout my career, I have seen children and adults living in poverty not only abroad, but in the United States as well. This is something that is very close to our own home, and even your neighbor or friend at work could be experiencing these hardships.
References
Mitchell, D. (2013, March 23). Episode 3: Delfena Mitchell [Audio Podcast]. Retrieved from http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/
www.childhoodpoverty.org
www.worldforumfoundation.org
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post! The story of the little boy named Joe, almost had me in tears! Wow! I could not imagine having to live the way that some of the children we are learning about have to live.
Poverty is a devastating situation to be in. The numbers of children suffering from this adversity is heart breaking. Although we can not prevent this from happening to families all around the world, we can however do our part in advocating for proactive policies, laws, and resources that can decrease these numbers presented in your blog in hopes of providing stable living conditions, resources,and positive outcomes. Thank you for your post!
ReplyDeleteI agree, it saddens me as well to know that even in our own backyard, so to speak, we have families and children that are living day to day struggling trying to find food to eat, clothes to wear, or a place to sleep. This is sad but it is reality and we as educators must be aware for children in our classrooms that need our help.
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