Alternative assignment:
After reading about the descriptions of the podcasts on the World Forum Foundation (2013) website, I chose to listen to the podcast “Episode 3: Delfena Mitchell”. Delfena Mitchell is the director of Liberty Children’s Home in Belize city in the country of Belize. Liberty Children’s Home is a residential center for children that “have been abandoned, abused, or orphaned and many have special needs or are HIV positive” (World Forum Foundation, 2013b, para. 20). According to Delfena Mitchell, Belize has “the number one incidents of child abuse in the whole Caribbean” (World Forum Foundation, 2013a). Many of the children that arrive at the Liberty Children’s Home have endured so much abuse that they are “broken down” and they need time to adjust before they can attend school with the other children in the community. She gave the example of a nine-year-old boy named Joseph who had not spoken in over a year because of the physical abuse that he endured. However, after Joseph had lived at the Liberty Children’s Home, he began to speak again (she does not specify how long he had lived there).
The link that was provided for Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/) did not work; I was redirected to the home page. However, after some searching I located it at: http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/global_initiative/. The website provides information about “Global Children’s Initiative” projects in Zambia, Brazil, and Chile. The program in Chile, “Un Buen Comienzo” (UBC), or “A Good Start” is a project designed to “improve early childhood education through teacher professional development” (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2012b, para. 1). I gained the following insights about the project “Un Buen Comienzo”:
- The project began in 2007, operating at four sites and it will eventually expand to 60.
- The project is designed to improve language development, health, socioemotional development and family involvement.
- Once the project has expanded to 60 schools it will involve a longitudinal evaluation known as “a cluster-randomized experiment” (Center on the Developing, 2012b, para. 4).
Center
on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2012a). Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/ubc/
Center
on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2012b). Un buen comienzo. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/ubc/
World
Forum Foundation (2013a). Episode 3:
Delfena Mitchell [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://ccie-media.s3.amazonaws.com/podcasts/WFR_03_DelfenaMitchell.mp3
World
Forum Foundation (2013b). World forum
radio. Retrieved from
http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/world-forum-radio/
I have heard so many stories about the difficult life children in the Favelas in Brazil have over the years. The poverty, drugs, violence and desperation many families and children experience is horrific. As the country prepares for the 1014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, the issues of poverty, child abuse and violence may become more widely known. http://www.coha.org/the-dark-side-of-brazil%E2%80%99s-olympic-dreams-the-2016-olympic-host-battles-poverty-violent-crime-and-police-brutality/
ReplyDeleteHearing stories like the one of Joseph is very sad. Children should never have to go through anything like that. Have you heard from any of your international contacts via email yet? If so, what all have you learned or talked about with them?
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