In listening to Delfena Mitchell who is the director of the
Liberty Children’s Home, which is located outside of Belize City, her program cares
for young children (primarily birth to 5) who have been physically abused,
sexually abused, abandoned or neglected.
Ms. Mitchell reported that Belize has the number one incident cases of
child abuse within the Caribbean (www.worldforumfroundation.org). The Liberty Children’s Home provides equity
to children in giving them a safe home environment, proper nutrition, secure
relationships, and a school experience.
Ms. Mitchell shared a story about a boy who came to the home with his
six other brothers and sisters who were all physically abused. Joe was nine years old and did not talk for
the past year and a half. With time,
medication, nutrition, some schooling, and outdoor activities (because he loved
working outdoors), Joe began to talk again.
This was the start in the healing process. A child’s home environment, economic
disadvantage, affects his/her development and readiness for school (Kagan,
2009). Ms. Mitchell said that when children
come to our home, “they are broken, and need time before going to school” (www.worldforumfoundation.org). The Liberty Children’s Home helps each child heal and recover at their own
pace, and allow children to attend school when they are emotionally, socially,
cognitively, and physically ready.
The main goal of the Zambian Early Childhood
Development Project was to determine the effect of early childhood environments,
health and education within sub-Saharan Africa.
This project was the first to generate a comprehensive assessment of child
development in Zambia as well. The data
collected from the assessments will better address the needs of each individual
child, and provide road maps as to where they need to go within areas of
development. In doing this, I see equity
for each child in teaching them “holistically and individually.” Despite the increased interest in child
development at the international level, representative data on child
development is still remarkably scarce; given this, we hope that the results of
this study will both encourage and facilitate future child development assessment
efforts (Harvard University, 2010).
Kagan, S. L. (2009). American early childhood education: Preventing or perpetuating inequity? (Equity Matters: Research Review No. 3). Retrieved from Campaign for Educational Equity website: http://www.equitycampaign.org/i/a/document/9833_EquityMatters_Kagan_Final.pdf
Hi Tammy,
ReplyDeleteWhen children have secure relationship it helps foster development of their social, emotional and cognitive skills. This is what we get to see in case of Joe. I think that is the beauty of working with children. While we practice building relationships, we model practices of building relationship for them. MS. Mitchell, has the privilege of not only caring for these unfortunate children but educating them as well. I believe caring and educating goes hand in hand. You cannot do one without the other. You cannot care for one without knowing them, build relationship and doing what is right for them. IT IS ALL ABOUT WOKING WITH CHILDREN AND NOT ‘FIXING’ THEM (Laureate Education, 2011)
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). "Excellence and Equity of Care and Education for Children and Families—Part 1" [Course media]. Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Tammy,
DeleteWhat an awesome example of what love, support, structure and security can give to a child. It is terrible when children are victims of their surroundings. Ms. Mitchell is absolutely correct when she says that children need time before entering a school after coming from a broken situation. This article gives me hope that there are special people all over the world that care for children. I am happy that they have a place to heal before continuing or starting with school. I would like to see the data influence the proper officials so that other services are offered to children in need. Great job and very informative!
Tammy, I like that article to about the "Zambian Early Childhood Developmental Project". It had some good information in it. This is a very poor county that talks about the data on the children. It talk about how they collect data on the children to better their learning skills.
ReplyDeleteTammy,
ReplyDeleteThat sounded like a very interesting podcast! Thanks for sharing this info. I enjoyed the story about the youngster that had not talked, then through the healing process, began speaking again. I wondered what this would have been like if he had not been treated holistically, and had been forced into someone else's routine or schedule. This is proof that every child is different and deserves to develop (or heal) at his or her own rate.
I also found the article about Zambia of interest.
Great post!
Kristi
Thank you for sharing this information. People dont understand when they do things to or for children it affects them for a lifetime whether its positive or negative.
ReplyDelete