Poverty and Hunger

I personally never experienced being hungry and not able to eat.  I always had the things I needed and most of the things I wanted as a child.  Although my family wasn't rich, we had enough that I never experienced poverty.  I can recall the stories of my mother's child hood.  My mother's childhood was not as fortunate as mine. As a child, my mother had little to eat daily.  She grew up in a family of 8 brothers and sisters.  My grandmother was disabled and her husband left when she became ill.  My mother was the youngest of them all.  As a child, she can recall being teased when she tried to go to school because her clothes were always someone else's making them too big for her.  She can recall seeing her mother praying for a miracle to pay their rent.  As a young child, my mother decided that she had no other choice but to contribute.  She sold cakes, pies, baby sit, clean houses, and anything else she had to do.  My mother was a young entrepreneur by the age of 8 when most children are still playing with dolls.  My mother was too poor to ever own a doll.  Although she experienced a terrible childhood, her childhood is what made her into the great woman she is today.  She gain a passion for helping others, a passion for cooking, and a humble spirit.

In Southern Africa, children experience multiple stressors.  Hunger, poverty, HIV/AIDS and other diseases all effect the children in Southern Africa.  Due to the many stressors that affect this region, programmes and their government has failed to resolved the stressors that affect this country.  The children in Southern Africa are far more vulnerable to the stressors because they are all around them. Many intervention methods are needed to resolve the different issues. By increasing the resilience and range of options that families have, through services and safety nets, one can optimise the positive outcomes for children.

• a region or country in the world that you would like to
  know more about and/or for which you have a special affinity. Find out, and
  describe, the kind of stressor(s) that impact the development of children in
  that region/country and what is being done to minimize the
  harm.

• a region or country in the world that you would like to
  know more about and/or for which you have a special affinity. Find out, and
  describe, the kind of stressor(s) that impact the development of children in
  that region/country and what is being done to minimize the
  harm.

• a region or country in the world that you would like to
  know more about and/or for which you have a special affinity. Find out, and
  describe, the kind of stressor(s) that impact the development of children in
  that region/country and what is being done to minimize the
  harm.

• a region or country in the world that you would like to
  know more about and/or for which you have a special affinity. Find out, and
  describe, the kind of stressor(s) that impact the development of children in
  that region/country and what is being done to minimize the
  harm.

• a region or country in the world that you would like to
  know more about and/or for which you have a special affinity. Find out, and
  describe, the kind of stressor(s) that impact the development of children in
  that region/country and what is being done to minimize the
  harm.

Public Health Topic: Immunization

This topic is meaningful to me because I always kept all of my children appointments especially the ones that included vaccinations. Now that I am in the child care field, I am learning that their are so many children that have not been immunized. I recently have a family member who wanted to enroll her two children into my daycare. It was then that I learned her children had not been immunized since she brought them home from the hospital which was 2-3 years ago. I found this information to be esstonishing to me because her children aren't protected. I also know that their are many people who do not believe in immunizing their children due to religious reasons or personaly beliefs.

Immunizations for children in the U.S. are doubled the amount for children in the Western countries (Generation rescue, 2009). A study was performed to see if the higher vaccination requirements lead to autism and under 5 mortality rate. At the end of the study, the idea that vaccinations cause autism was dismissed due to the implications that a lesser vaccination requirement would increase infant mortality and other diseases (Generation rescue, 2009). Iceland and Sweden have a vaccination requirement of 11 manadatory shots. Iceland infant mortality rate is 3.9 and Sweden is 4.0 per 1,000 children. Although these rates are low compared to the United States additional studies are needed to actually reduce the amount of required immunizations in the U.S.

This information could change the amount of immunizations that are required for children in the U.S. to begin daycare. Considering their isn't enough evidence to support this theory, I still feel that parents should be knowledgable about the importance of vaccinating.

Generation rescue inc., (2009) Retrieved on November 11, 2010 from www.rescuepost.com/file/gr-autism_and_vaccines_world_special