Resources on the Web

I have been reading and following the Children's Defense Fund website for some time now. This organization calls on early childhood professionals to take a stand and advocate for various issues involving children. The most recent was signing a letter to Congress about gun control. This resource is relevant to me because I work in government. In this Master's program my concentration is public policy and advocacy. The work I am doing and may have the opportunity to do falls right into the same scope of work that the CDF does.

One issue that made me think was the publication from CDF about black children falling behind white children in terms of poverty, health care, mental health, and early education. I read the statistics and I am not debating the numbers but what I don't understand is that the intervention programs are for all children, black or white, or Hispanic, or Asian, etc. There is insurance for children whose parents do not have insurance. There are programs in schools for children with mental health issues regardless of their race. There are government child care subsidies for parents needing child care or there are head start programs that offer transportation services. I do understand that CDF explains that the percentage of black children are born to poverty, but the services and programs offered according to income or risk factors regardless of race or nationality. This was just something that caught my eye.

The Children's Defense Fund calls for advocacy through your local, state, and national politicians. There are numerous links on the website where someone can write a letter, or call their representative. The website gives information on child poverty, early childhood education, and health care and what the focus of the politicians should be. The website gives information on what is being done and how much more our governments could be doing.

By doing this assignment, I realized how political this website is. It includes information about poverty and inequality and the consequences of issues involving children. It then calls on people to advocate and take action. There are many links that will get someone involved if they choose to. I feel like this website is not just saying they want action, they will actually help you take action yourself. This website makes you feel as though your advocacy for children will make a difference.

International Contacts - Poverty

This week I received a very good response from Margaret in South Africa. Of course she spoke about the widespread issue of poverty not only in South Africa but on the entire continent of Africa. She paints a very bleak picture of living conditions for families in South Africa. I have copied and pasted some of her comments below.

The poverty in South Africa is blamed on the political regime of apartheid, which ended in 1994. For the majority of South Afircans, the abolition of apartheid has not materially affected their poverty status. This is not in any way a defence of apartheid, whcih should never have happened!

The present governement has introduced child grants and many families depend on this money as income. The social support structure in South Africa is hopelessly inadequate.

The effect of poverty on children is devastating. Their future is extremely bleak and the paychological impact of prolonged poverty is as devastating as the physical - the cycle of poverty is perpetuatued!

Margaret is very interested in our discussion on poverty and has even asked me to send her some notes on our discussions. I am almost ashamed to tell her what poverty is like in my community. According to her explanation, the children in South Africa would love to live in what we consider poverty in my community.

My contact in Ethiopia did respond to me but she gave me titles of two books about children in Ethiopia. I tried to look them up on Amazon hoping to read some excerpts. The books were on the website but there was no access to read pages from the books. I did read the descriptions and they were about studies done on children in Ethiopia and how learning about their culture helped them to improve. I guess this drives the point that you cannot fix something without understanding the challenges surrounding an issue. For instance, I'm sure we would not know where to begin to improve poverty in these third world countries. We would first have to understand the government as well as the lack of resources.

 

Early Childhood Organization - cont.

I spoke about Children's Defense Fund last week. During the week, I searched their website in more detail. I found videos that talk about the many programs they sponsor. I particularlly like hearing about their Freedom Schools and about Haley Farm. I discovered that the land once belonged to Alex Haley and is located only minutes from my son's apartment at the University of Tennessee. CDF purchased the farm in 1994 and is used for many of their programs. CDF is financially supported by grants and donations.

This organization speaks out for the rights of children and for equity of life for all children. CDF tackles the current issues in our society and speaks out for action from others. I received this week's newsletter where the president of CDF, Marian Wright Edelman speaks about honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In summary she states the we can honor Dr. King by:

•   ending poverty and closing the gap between rich and poor
•   naming and changing the racial disparities
•   demanding justice for poor and vunerable children
•   stopping racial and income segregation in our schools
•   building a beloved community in America
•   transforming our education system
•   ensuring every child's safey and right to live

Many of us are off of work this Monday. Let us as early childhood educators reflect on how we can do our part in honoring Dr. King.    

www.childrensdefense.org
   

Early Childhood Organization

I have received updates from the Children's Defense Fund for years now and I do not remember how I ever signed up for this. However, I was not signed up for the newsletter from the President of the organization, Marian Wright Edelman. She is a phonomenal speaker and writer. In the past I have gone to You tube and watched some of her speeches and love listening to her speak. For this class, I signed up for the newsletter, Child Watch column that she writes. I received my first newsletter this morning in which she speaks about gun control and the recent tragedy in Newtown. Her writing is very touching and there was one paragraph in particular that I chose to share.

President Obama, in his moving remarks at the Sandy Hook interfaith prayer vigil at Newtown High School December 16, 2012, got it right when he said: “Caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.” And we will not pass the test of the God of the prophets or New Testament or all great faiths if we do not protect all of our sacred children against repeated and preventable gun deaths and injuries. Every child has a right to live and to dream and to strive for a future that is not destroyed in a second because we cowered before a special interest lobby and refused to protect them.

This is just one example of how this organization works passionately for the rights of all children and for causes taking place in society. I know there are many organizations that work in defense of children but this one has resonated with me and has touched my life for many years.

International contacts

When given this assignment, I was having trouble making contacts as was many of my colleagues. I decided to do what I love doing on my computer, searching. I googled "international early childhood organizations. I looked at a few that mentioned no one's name or email. Then I found the International Society on Early Intervention. On the website there was a member directory with in my opinion must be thousands of names of early childhood professionals. They were categorized by countries and their area of expertise. Included with their name was their current profession and their email. I emailed about ten of them and received one response immediately.  I went to the class forum to give my colleagues this information hoping that this may help them. I heard nothing else for the rest of the week.  I had given up hope when first thing this morning I received an overwhelming response from someone in South Africa. I also contacted the Director of the child care resource and referral agency that I collaborate with on the job. She told me she had a friend that has been to Reggio Emilia Italy five times in the past few years to work with early childhood children and that although she does not live in Italy, she could be a resource for information.

Ayele from Ethiopia was the first to respond to my email. She gave me names of two books about children of Ethiopia that I may want to review.

Mary-Jane is the lady that has visited and worked in Reggio Emilia Italy that I can use as a resource for that country.

Margaret was the response I received this morning in which she was overwhelming enthusiastic about helping me. She used the words, "honored and delighted". She even invited me to go to South Africa and would help me arrange the trip. She gave me her phone number in S. Africa for me to call in the evenings.

I was not optimistic about this assignment in the beginning but my last response I received has made me so excited about learning about the children in these countries.