As an adult, I cannot seem to remember the exact stressors that I faced as a child. I remember being carefree and worrying about what others though about it, but none of the big concerns that children face today. But I see so many children, even in my small community, that have to overcome being hungry in school. So many of the students in our school district are children of migrant workers, farmers, or those who do not speak English. Their families travel for work and food, not knowing how much will come into the house each night. A hungry child is unable to concentrate on school work if he/she is always thinking about when they are going to get to eat next. Our school district has tried to help out these families as much as they can, on top of the state and government programs out there. But for our students, we have a program that provides the students with food for the weekends when they are unable to get the free meals from the school for breakfasts and lunches. But I have seen children who do not have enough food at home eat their snacks so quickly and ask for me, because they are afraid they won't get anymore. So even with some food in their bellies, they still obsess over their next meal.
Here are some astounding facts on hunger in America: (Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/hunger_at_home/hunger-home-american-children-malnourished/story?id=14367230&page=2 )
- "In 314 counties around the country, one third of the children in the county are living in food-insecure households."
-"Nineteen counties are home to more than 100,000 children living in food-insecure households. And three of those counties have more than 300,000 food-insecure children."
- "Steele County, N.D., has the lowest number of children at risk of hunger, at 7 percent. "
There are many programs out there to help fight hunger not only in America, but around the world. Some are "Feed the Children", "Feeding America", "Share our Strength", "World Vision", and UNICEF, and they are just a few of many.
As a group, my Sunday School Class sponsors a child through World Vision, an organization that is trying to help world hunger. So, I thought Africa would be a great place to look into for this part of the assignment. Africa is plaqued by poverty, hunger, chaos (at times), and disease. The children begin to help parents farm at a young age, many of them hungry while working. The medical knowledge and moneys for vaccinations are lacking in this part of the world. Clean drinking water is also a problem. So many stressors for these children to have to deal with at a young age. Unfortunately, not all of the children have access to schools, either.
Many of the programs, like World Vision, are trying to combat these stressers for the children of the world. Sponsors donate money to help take care of a child or they may donate an animal to a village to help many. UNICEF is another organization that is trying to help the poverty and hunger problems around the world. If more of us who have an abundance of resources available could donate to one of these causes, it would greatly help reduce the hunger of the world.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Immunizations
How important is it to immunize our babies?
"Some 4 million people, mostly children, die needlessly every year becasue countries don't vaccinate..." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 1)
"Measles kills 1.1 million children" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 8)
"Hepatitis B vaccine prevents just a third of the infections that it could" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 9)
"Hib kills up to 700,000 children a year"(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 10)
"Yellow fever vaccine costs the poorest countries just 15 cents a dose, yet still kills 30,000 a year." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 11)
"Whooping cough vaccine has cut deaths by two-thirds but 350,000 still die annually." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 12)
"Tetanus kills 500,000, largely newborns whose mothers didn't get prenatal vaccination." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 13)
These statistics are astounding. Yet, Clark (2001) found that there are many parents today that seek waivers to keep their children from being immunized. Michigan has the lowest numbers of children who are properly vaccinated (Clark, 2001). People must understand all the information when making the decision to immunize their children or not. The FDA keeps a close watch on all vaccines to keeps records of any and all side effects (Cooperstock, 2012). Yet there are still those who believe that vaccinations cause Autism or other disorders. But science has not proven these beliefs. Immunizing your children not only keeps your children from getting certain diseases, but also helps those around them from contracting them as well. These diseases are world wide, where not all children are immunized. So in our world of travel, if one child gets a disease from another country, brings it home to the US, he/she has then exposed a large number of children to the sickness.
Immunizations in Africa-
In Africa, many diseases could be prevented if vaccinations were available to everyone. "twice as many children under 5 die each year than in 1960" (Bartholomew & Oot, 2005, para 1). Many diseases that are no longer or rarely seen in the US still threaten African children. There is a direct coorelation between an educated mother and children who are vaccinated. So for Africa, we need to help them to get their girls into school, so they are more knowledgable so that they will be educated mothers who will get prenatal care and immunize their children. We also need to help send the needed vaccinations to the lower developed countries to help to irradicate these diseases. This would also cut down the worldwide spread of certain diseases that can be prevented through simple vaccinations.
References:
Bartholomew, C. & Oot, D. (2005, June 16). Plight of Africa's children. Washington Times, p. A18. Retrieved from ProQuest July 4, 2012.
Clark, I. (2001, November 20). Parents must weigh the health risks versus the benefits of immunizations. Michigan Chronicle, p. A7. Retrieved from ProQuest July 4, 2012.
Cooperstock, M. (2012, April 29). Immunizations boost public safety: Medical professionals have faith in vaccines. Columbia Daily Tribune, p. D3. Retrieved from ProQuest July 4, 2012.
Lack of vaccinations kills 4 million a year report seeks boost in immunizations in world's poorest nations. (1998, January 12). Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, p. 3. Retrieved from ProQuest July 4, 2012.
"Some 4 million people, mostly children, die needlessly every year becasue countries don't vaccinate..." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 1)
"Measles kills 1.1 million children" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 8)
"Hepatitis B vaccine prevents just a third of the infections that it could" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 9)
"Hib kills up to 700,000 children a year"(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 10)
"Yellow fever vaccine costs the poorest countries just 15 cents a dose, yet still kills 30,000 a year." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 11)
"Whooping cough vaccine has cut deaths by two-thirds but 350,000 still die annually." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 12)
"Tetanus kills 500,000, largely newborns whose mothers didn't get prenatal vaccination." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 13)
These statistics are astounding. Yet, Clark (2001) found that there are many parents today that seek waivers to keep their children from being immunized. Michigan has the lowest numbers of children who are properly vaccinated (Clark, 2001). People must understand all the information when making the decision to immunize their children or not. The FDA keeps a close watch on all vaccines to keeps records of any and all side effects (Cooperstock, 2012). Yet there are still those who believe that vaccinations cause Autism or other disorders. But science has not proven these beliefs. Immunizing your children not only keeps your children from getting certain diseases, but also helps those around them from contracting them as well. These diseases are world wide, where not all children are immunized. So in our world of travel, if one child gets a disease from another country, brings it home to the US, he/she has then exposed a large number of children to the sickness.
Immunizations in Africa-
In Africa, many diseases could be prevented if vaccinations were available to everyone. "twice as many children under 5 die each year than in 1960" (Bartholomew & Oot, 2005, para 1). Many diseases that are no longer or rarely seen in the US still threaten African children. There is a direct coorelation between an educated mother and children who are vaccinated. So for Africa, we need to help them to get their girls into school, so they are more knowledgable so that they will be educated mothers who will get prenatal care and immunize their children. We also need to help send the needed vaccinations to the lower developed countries to help to irradicate these diseases. This would also cut down the worldwide spread of certain diseases that can be prevented through simple vaccinations.
References:
Bartholomew, C. & Oot, D. (2005, June 16). Plight of Africa's children. Washington Times, p. A18. Retrieved from ProQuest July 4, 2012.
Clark, I. (2001, November 20). Parents must weigh the health risks versus the benefits of immunizations. Michigan Chronicle, p. A7. Retrieved from ProQuest July 4, 2012.
Cooperstock, M. (2012, April 29). Immunizations boost public safety: Medical professionals have faith in vaccines. Columbia Daily Tribune, p. D3. Retrieved from ProQuest July 4, 2012.
Lack of vaccinations kills 4 million a year report seeks boost in immunizations in world's poorest nations. (1998, January 12). Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, p. 3. Retrieved from ProQuest July 4, 2012.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)