Children

“There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.”
-Walt Streightiff

Children truly see the world through unclouded eyes, in everything they see beauty and hope. It never ceases to amaze me what the eyes of a child see that the eyes of adulthood cannot, as they have become so blinded by the tediousness of life. The world would be a better place if only we could all look upon it through the eyes of a child.

In childhood we forget not the simple things, one finds joy for hours in a simple box. Yet somehow with time we soon notice not the box an eagerly tear at it to see what is inside, never to be fully satisfied with what we find. Our lives spent searching for what does not exist, while in childhood we search to find everything that exists just so we may see it and learn from it.

Maybe if we say the world with pure wonderment one would find less poverty and suffering, and more simple joy.

The gang world has always been viewed through a predominately male lens, however the gang culture seems to be in the midst of a feminine revival. Many Central America countries have spent decades fighting gang wars on their streets, leaving most with the view that it is boys who make up this violent subculture and that girls are merely victims to the violence. However girls are not only the victims, but they are increasingly becoming the predators. Gangs today are ruling many of Central America’s streets, especially in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, and increasingly the members are female.

In Guatemala’s gang girls give and take abuse, including those girls joining the Mara Salvatrucha or other criminalized gangs. Girls in the gangs are increasingly committing acts of violence, however girls continue to experience high levels of abuse, including sexual attacks from fellow gang members.  Beatings are also not uncommon in the the gang underworld and those do not stay in line with the gang soon find themselves in a world of abuse.

Many girls join the gangs to fill the void of love and acceptance that they do not receive in their own families, looking to the gangs to essentially replace them. Sadly the gangs bring little love, and only inflict more abuse and brutality on already vulnerable girls;

“I thought it would be like my family,” Benky said of her reason for joining the gang, asking that her full name not be used. “I thought I’d get the love I was missing. But they’d hit me. They ordered me around. They told me I had to rob someone or kill someone, and I did it.” (Abuse Trails Central American Girls Into Gangs)

For now it looks like Central America’s girl gang culture will continue to rise, as girls search for acceptance from abusive homes and lives. The girls of the street need acceptance, but the gangs look to only bring more heartache and abuse, thus much needs to be done to increase gender focused youth outreach on the streets to see that girls issues are addressed. Prevention and support programs for domestic abuse may look to help limit the numbers of girls joining gangs, however it is not enough as the gang culture is deeply rooted in many communities, leaving many young people to see it as their only option and way out.

India’s child malnutrition and stunted growth problems are on the rise, and as food prices across the globe continue to rise there appears to be no sign of a slow down. India continues to come to grips with one of the world’s highest child malnutrition rates, with one third of the worlds malnourished children. The current rate only looks to increase as over 1.5 million more children are now at risk due to rising food prices according to UNICEF. The high malnutrition rate has resulted in stunted growth in about half of all Indian children under the age of five, the UN children’s agency said.

Stunted growth is not only brought on by malnutrition in early childhood, but also in the fetal development stage when the mother is malnourished. The effects of stunting are most always permanent, and stunted children may never regain the height lost as a result. In addition most children will never gain the corresponding body weight, and stunting can also lead to premature death, as vital organs are never fully developed during childhood.

News of India’s large scale child malnutrition problem is not new, as was reported in the the 2005 UNICEF report, “Childhood Under Threat”, which not only reported that; 53% of Indian children are chronically malnourished, but that 63% go to bed hungry. The report also showed that some 77 million children do not use drinking water from a tap, 85 million are not immunized, 27 million where severely underweight and another 33 million have never been to school. In 2007 the National Family Health Survey reported, the survey when compared to the same survey in 2000 only saw a marginal drop in child malnutrition rates, leaving India behind Sub-Saharan Africa.

It is all to clear that India, the worlds largest democracy, is not doing enough to save its children and safeguard their future as they continue to remain worse than that of it’s African counterparts. And with rising rice prices heavily effecting the country the severity of malnutrition across the country is only becoming more grave and harder to ignore. Many fear that school feedings, which are often the only viable source of proper nutrition for many children, will not increase as needed.

In a climate of increasing insatiability the threat of increased child labor follows closely behind malnutrition fears, and India is no stranger to child labor. Therefore it is clear that the government and aid agencies must make maternal and child malnutrition a top priority as food prices continue to rise and following food shortages ensure that malnutrition rates remain high. Thus feeding programs alone are not enough, agricultural investments and training programs must follow, especially in regards to small scale farming programs, if we are to see a significant drop in malnutrition across the state of India.

Related News:
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)/Reuters
BBC

Happiness is…

Being able to share your love with a child you created out of love.

To hold a life in your hands, and know it needs you and loves you unconditionally.

Nothing more could you ask for than to see eyes shine and smiles brighten as you enter the room.

Happiness truly is to love a child…

Happiness is to be a Mother!

This year Saturday, May 10th marks World Fair Trade day, the theme of the year is “Fair Trade for the Planed, for the People”, which follows last years theme of “Kids Need Fair Trade”. For more information see the World Fair Trade Day 2008 Official Website.

Fair Trade is everyones issue, it is more than looking at the world through a lens of more organic and healthy food, it is more than a fair wage for farmers…Fair Trade is the way to a sustainable future for all of the worlds children.

This year in the United States the World’s Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break will take place at noon Pacific time and 3:00 Eastern time, with events across the countries coasts. Join the fight for all the worlds people and our planet, and join your global citizens for coffee with a cause! The events are set to establish solidarity for the movement and where incited by the Fair Trade Resource Network.

Take the opportunity to learn about Fair Trade with your children and go on a few of the great sites out there that have games and resources for kids, such as Oxfam’s Cool Planet and Kidz @ Work . Please see my Fair Trade and Slave Free Links for more information.

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Children are the light of the future, let us care for them today, so that we may see clearer in the future.

Afghanistan has yet to find a strategy to cope with the growing practice of “loan brides,” young girls traded into marriage as a result of the opium trade. While traffickers get rich by loaning money to impoverished poppy farmers, the families are often are unable to pay the debt. Families are thus forced to give their daughters over as a form of repayment for the debt they have incurred. The instability of poppy farmers is ever growing as efforts to eradicate Afghanistan of the opium trade push on, however one battle over good has now only lead to another battle for the countries mainly poor and illiterate rural poor. It is estimated that some half a million families in the country survive off of poppy farming, and as efforts to introduce other crops continue to fail.

The opium brides of Afghanistan not only leave families shammed and torn apart, but blight the nation with the lasting scars of a generation of lost girls. Girls as young as infants have been know to be promised in marriage over debts, others are teenagers who where looking hopefully towards the future until they where ripped away by the drug trades increasing hold on the countries struggling families. Families such as Shah who has now given his 9 year old daughter Khalida in exchange for a debt off some $2,000 which he was unable to repay after a government crop-eradication team destroyed the families two and a half acre poppy field. ” Now the family can only wait for the 45-year-old drug runner to come back for his prize. Khalida wanted to be a teacher someday, but that has become impossible. “It’s my fate,” the child says.”

In Afghanistan reports from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and UNICEF, claim as many as 60-80% of marriges in the country are forced and 57% of marriages involve girls under the age of 16, which is the legal age for marriage in the country. The Afghan government put a new 15-page formal marriage contract, the ‘Nikah Nama’, in to place this past March. “The new marriage contract is a strong legal instrument that will end child marriages and will empower women’s legal status after marriage,” said Nibila Wafiq, a women’s rights programme officer for German NGO Medica Mondiale (IRIN).

Child marriages are not just a social and gender problem, but also a health problem as they lead to higher instances of domestic violence and early pregnancies, which leave girls at high risk for death in childbirth, complications, and low birth weights. Please see my other posts on Child Marriage

UN treaty for world’s disabled people takes effect A United Nations pact aimed at boosting the rights of the 650 million disabled people around the world took effect Saturday. Twenty-five countries so far have ratified the treaty, which outlaws discrimination based on disability in the workplace and in education.

Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro has been designated the laureate of the 2008 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. The investigative journalist exposed the involvement of wealthy Mexican businessmen and politicians in prostitution and child pornography rings. She also wrote about the violence in the northern city of Ciudad Juarez, where hundreds of women have been killed. The prize will be awarded in the Mozambican capital Maputo on 3 May, World Press Freedom Day. The award includes a cash prize of USD 25,000. (Radio Netherlands)

Saudi women are being kept in perpetual childhood so male relatives can exercise “guardianship” over them, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) group has said. The New York-based group says Saudi women have to obtain permission from male relatives to work, travel, study, marry or even receive health care. Their access to justice is also severely constrained, it says. The group says the Saudi establishment sacrifices basic human rights to maintain male control over women. Saudi clerics see the guardianship of women’s honor as a key to the country’s social and moral order.

Study links autism to parents. In another sign pointing to an inherited component to autism, a study released on Monday found that having a schizophrenic parent or a mother with psychiatric problems roughly doubled a child’s risk of being autistic.

Child labor may seem like a thing of the past, a relic last left in the cloudy days of the Depression, sadly the use of child labor has never been erased and it has proved to be a stalemate in societies. In India, child labor proves hard to end, as millions of children continue to work to aid their families financial burden. The ‘old tradition’ of child labor has become an increasingly difficult cycle to brake, in spite of both government efforts and international pressure. The biggest hurdle in combating child is that in India it is not illegal, bar the work is not seen as “hazardous” for those children under 14 years old. According to the government there are at least some 12.6 million children out of school and engaged in labor, however NGOs put the true number as high as 60 million children.

India’s child labor includes girls like Jasmina, who was sent to work with her sister as maids, by her mother, after her father died. Jasmina revives 100 rupees, or $2.25, for her work each month. Abuse is ripe in the world of child labor, and stories like Jasmina’s are not unique:

“I get tired and forget things, so they hit me,” Jasmina said, her eyes cast down. “They want the shoes polished. If I don’t do it fast enough they hit me with a cooking spoon. They want to go to the toilet. If I don’t get the water fast enough I get a beating” (International Herald Tribune).

Children are not just forced into domestic work, as millions are found working in industry such as glass-blowing, fireworks, and more commonly, carpet-making factories. Children are forced to work long hours for little or no pay, often given little nourishment and no education; leaving a generation with no sustainable skills for the future, and leaving them ripe for abuse and exploitation. While societal pressure is increasing, the battle to end child labor in India is one that will not be won over night and it is blatantly clear that legislation alone will not end the suffering of millions of children. The root of child labor is deeper than just cultural backwardness, while it is a huge factor for change, the deeper root lies in the economic stability of families and communities.

“Bear in mind that the wonderful things you learn in your schools are the work of many generations. All this is put in your hands as your inheritance in order that you may receive it, honor it, add to it, and one day faithfully hand it on to your children.” -Albert Einstein

Children inherit our mistakes, our wars and the backlash of our greed. The mistakes of history are never truly seen until the reach the children of future generations. Often I hear people say, “but it doesn’t affect me.” or “It won’t effect my children.”, when it comes to so many global issues, such as the environment, poverty, modern slavery and so forth. The truth of the matter is these ‘global’ issues affect us all and it is the children of the future who will suffer the consequences of our mistakes or our turning a blind eye. Let us remember that the future is in our hands and our values and our actions is what marks the future, so dare we leave it scared or do we leave it in hope for a better tomorrow, the choose is ours, the price is the children’s!