Unfortunately, for the past two weeks I have had zero contact with professionals! :( Initially I emailed six professionals hoping to hear from at least two......ughhhhh....I have heard from NONE!! I will try again this week with new professionals because I really want to have contact!!! Soooooo for this week I chose to visit the UNICEF website and discover information about the Phillipines...... Much like African Americans had to do way back when, Filipinos children who are poor rarely finish school. They often have to quit so that they can help be providers in the family so that they can make ends meet. This alone is one of the very reasons poverty in childhood.....no matter the country......is so devastating to healthy development of a young child. Instead of being children, they have to act as adults! A study of poverty in Phillipines showed that in 2006, 5.4 million children were deprived of having at least one of the necessities of life (shelter, sanitation, and water). Around 840,000 children face at least two of those deprivations in the Phillipines; and luckily only a little over half of a percentage (which is 17,000) of children had to face all three deprivations! That's good to hear, but I pray it were none:( On a positive note, since national and international push has been made to help in improving poverty rates, infant mortality and under five mortality rates in the Phillipines have decreased. To support my idea of children not being children and having to work because of poverty issues was revealed upon further reading. I found out that out of 25 million children in the Phillipines, 4 million of them are involved in child labor. Poverty has unfortunately become associated with the country. Poverty is highest amongst those in the field of agriculture, fishing, and forestry. These occupations alone contributes to 61.6% of poverty incidence in the Phillipines. The other sectors with high numbers of poverty include construction, mining, and transport. Hopefully with the continual help of UNICEF and other relief organizations; the Phillipines will be less known for poverty issues.
References
http://www.unicef.org/social policy/index_66867.html
Shawanza,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear about your troubles with finding a contact. That is really frustrating that you have not heard back from anyone. I commend you for your tenacity on finding an international contact. Although I was a little apprehensive about this assignment at first, it has already proven to be fruitful. Don't give up!
On a brighter note, your information about poverty in the Phillipines is very eye-opening. I had no idea that out of 25 million children that 4 million of them are involved in child labor! Thankfully we have programs such as UNICEF. I wonder what else we can do to help? Thank you for opening my eyes.
Krista