The affects of WAR in other countires, and who helps.

The International Committee of the Red Cross
http://www.icrc.org

"The ICRC, established in 1863, works worldwide to provide humanitarian help for people affected by conflict and armed violence and to promote the laws that protect victims of war. An independent and neutral organization, its mandate stems essentially from the Geneva Conventions of 1949.
Since its creation in 1863, the ICRC's sole objective has been to ensure protection and assistance for victims of armed conflict and strife. It does so through its direct action around the world, as well as by encouraging the development of international humanitarian law (IHL) and promoting respect for it by governments and all weapon bearers."
http://www.icrc.org/eng/who-we-are/index.jsp

Children protected under international humanitarian law

"Children are especially vulnerable in armed conflicts. Despite the protection provided by law, they continue to be recruited by armed forces and armed groups. They are often separated from their families, driven from their homes, killed, maimed, sexually abused or exploited in other ways.

Children in war benefit from the general protection of international humanitarian law as civilians or combatants. But there are also special provisions that recognize their particular vulnerability and needs in armed conflicts.

Children are still recruited by national armed forces. Over the past few decades the recruitment of children by armed groups, especially in Africa, became a serious humanitarian problem. In many situations children carry arms and actively take part in the fighting. But they can also be used in supporting roles, such as carrying supplies or providing military intelligence, that puts them in great danger.

The 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions were the first international treaties to try and tackle these situations. They prohibit the recruitment and participation in hostilities of children under the age of 15. In international armed conflicts, the first Additional Protocol also requires military recruitment of 15 to 18 year olds to prioritize the oldest.

The 1989 Convention on the rights of the child, which has achieved almost universal ratification, also included the 15 age limit. An optional protocol to this Convention, in May 2000, lifted the age for compulsory recruitment to 18 and called on States to raise the minimum age for voluntary recruitment above 15. It insisted that armed groups should not use children under 18 in any circumstances and called on States to criminalize such practices.

Recognition of a universal age limit of 18 by the international community has still not been achieved. The ICRC and its partners in the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are pressing for such a limit through further development of both international and national law.

In the field, the ICRC assists the demobilization of child soldiers and provides psychological and other support to enable their reintroduction to a normal child’s life.

Children not involved in an armed conflict face a whole range of dangers for which IHL and relevant children's rights instruments provide special protection. They are guaranteed the general protection of non-combatants, but their special needs for medical help, food, shelter and clothing are recognized by the Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Protocols.

Children who are orphaned or separated from their families must be identified, protected and provided with special facilities that ensure their physical safety. Their educational needs must also be provided for. At the same time, all appropriate steps must be taken to facilitate the reunion of families temporarily separated.

Children who are detained as the result of an armed conflict must be treated humanely. They should be kept with their family group. If this is not possible, they should be separated from adult prisoners or detainees.

IHL aims to limit the impact of war on children. Regrettably, the very nature of today’s conflicts means that even greater efforts need to be made on the ground, by the ICRC and others, to save children from the horrors of war and to help them rebuild their lives once the conflict is over."
http://www.icrc.org/eng/war-and-law/protected-persons/children/overview-protected-children.htm 

Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

Stressors are everywhere, and occur naturally and sometimes forcibly in all our lives.  There are many ramifications of these stresses and how we cope and survive is dependent on many factors including support from others.  

The stressor I chose to examine is war and its affects on children's biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial development.  War, unfortunately is currently affecting us all.  Some children are sheltered, protected and far removed from war, others know too much about the violence and suffering.  Because the topic of war is so broad in its stresses, I chose to focus on the affects of a parent/parents leaving on deployment here in the United States.  

I have several children in my class this year who's parent/parents have been previously deployed and some who are anticipating deployment or currently waiting for a loved one to return.  War and military life can bring so many hardships to a family with young children.  

 A resource for families understanding the affects of deployment on children and families:

 http://www.military.com/benefits/resources/deployment/your-children-and-separation

A great resources for educators helping children cope with deployment:
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/homefront/homefront.pdf 


 A resource for supporting military families in your community:
http://www.operationmilitarykids.org/public/home.aspx 

It is heartwarming to share how communities rally around families affected by deployment and how they aid one another in coping with, and compensating  for, the stress of war.  I have experienced children and their parents learning new routines within a single parent household and how they became dependent on caregivers for emotional support and love.  I have held mother's as they cry, aided father's in making a video message or video journals for their children prior to deployment, I have cooked meals for an over-stressed newly single mom and three children, I have helped make hundreds of cards and letters for service men and women in our military over the past 10 years.  We reside in North Carolina and are surrounded by three large military bases.  This stress affects at least two families in our program each year, sometimes many more.  We offer parent workshops on how to help their children cope when a mommy or daddy leaves for months at a time.

Later this week I will post on the stress of war and its affects on children in other countries.

Child Development & Public Health

For this assignment, I chose to explore the concern of public access to healthy water.  

This topic is important to me as an educator of children.  This affects all children globally.  I drink several bottles of purified water each day,( from my re-usable bottle) and I feel guilty to have access to this privilege when other people/ children do not. Not having access clean water affects children's development, academic progress and health.  I feel very strongly in supporting communities world-wide in obtaining clean water and reducing (plastic) pollution.  This can be taught at the early childhood stage of life.

I chose to research clean water access consumption in Mexico. 

"Tourists are warned not to drink tap water in Mexico but what do locals drink? In Mexico 94% of surface water is contaminated but not everybody can afford to buy purified water."   -this is a problem!

 http://www.globalgiving.co.uk/pr/5900/proj5832a.html

 This organization has begun a donation bank to aid children of Mexico.  

Project Needs and Beneficiaries

The bottled water industry in Mexico is one of the largest in the world causing huge environmental concern as to the amount of waste plastic being produced. Along with discarded plastic bottles, the beaches are littered with rubbish that has been washed up from all over the world.The people of Mexico need to be taught to purify their water and reduce plastic consumption. 

We work with the people of Mexico to obtain drinking water without purchasing plastic bottles and encourage families to collect rubbish from beaches.  Those participants who collect the most are presented with a water filter to use in the their homes.

http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/

"Today’s water crisis is not an issue of scarcity, but of access. More people in the world own cell phones than have access to a toilet. And as cities and slums grow at increasing rates, the situation worsens. Every day, lack of access to clean water and sanitation kills thousands, leaving others with reduced quality of life."

• Diarrhea remains in the second leading cause of death among children under five globally. Nearly one in five child deaths – about 1.5 million each year – is due to diarrhea. It kills more young children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined.
• Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease. 
• Diarrhea is more prevalent in the developing world due, in large part, to the lack of safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as poorer overall health and nutritional status. 
• Children in poor environments often carry 1,000 parasitic worms in their bodies at any time. 
• In the developing world, 24,000 children under the age of five die every day from preventable causes like diarrhea contracted from unclean water. 
• 1.4 million children die as a result of diarrhea 

Sources:

Asian Development Bank web site. 2009.

UN Water. 2008. Tackling a Global Crisis: International Year of Sanitation 2008

World Health Organization. 2008. Safer Water, Better Health: Costs, benefits, and sustainability of interventions to protect and promote health.

Childbirth- In My Life & Around the World

I had my first child when I was 19 years old.  I was young, unmarried, scared and completely unprepared for the journey ahead of both myself and my son.  The event itself was scary and uncomfortable.  I did not prepare with Lamaze classes, I opted for an epidural, and I had both of my equally frightened parents by my hospital bedside.  The very "medical process" took 14 hours and was mentally and physically exhausting.  The beginning of my son's life was an adventure that I have learned so much from.  He was 5 weeks early and would prove to have a delicate immune system, but luckily he was fully physically developed. Birth has an amazing impact on child development, my son is a testimate to that.  After the initial birthing process, I immediately took parenting classes and continually advocated for his health and well being.  He remained a "sickly" child for the first five years of his life, in and out of the doctor/hospital.  He is highly allergic to most major medicines and environmental agents.  My daughter's birth, seven years later, was completely different.  Her labor lasted 4 hours, my husband and myself were completely prepared and actually enjoyed the process.  Her early childhood journey has also been strikingly different than that of my son's. 

http://www.japantoday.com/category/commentary/view/giving-birth-in-japan

I chose to investigate the common birthing process in the country of Japan.  

In Japan it's widely accepted that pregnant women can eat certain foods like raw fish, weight gain is generally less for mothers, it is customary for mothers to stay six days at the hospital (one day for labor and five days for recovery), and the post-delivery recovery period in the hospital is like boot camp for new moms, preparing them for life outside the hospital. 

I wish I had received more post-delivery assistance, education, and support.  I stayed only two days in the hospital and felt "rushed" out and unprepared.  I struggled with postpartum depression and issues of feeling unworthy as a mother.  I feel that there is not an effective system in the US to help young/new mothers.