Stress on Children’s Development

Growing up in a developing country I have seen how resilient children are and how they face life with courage and grow up to be successful adults. There were two families who lived in my grandfather’s property.  They were living there for three generations. First generation was helping my grandfather with his property and with few cows he had. It was a man and his wife and their six children. All six children went to school and in the evening they helped their parents. They worked in the vegetable garden, herding cows, collecting coconuts and doing simple household chores. They grew up with my mother and siblings. They played together and my uncles were their tutors. When they were adults, they moved out of the village and moved in to the city to start their own lives. Their father, mother and a sister stayed back.

The sister got married and lived in the same house, where her parents lived in my grandfather’s property. She and her husband had two children. They did not work for my family or my uncles’ families but they both worked in the town. Children were raised by the grandparents during the day time.

Out of the two children, one was closer to my age and the other one was closer to my sister’s age. Everyday after school they came to my parent’s house and they waited for us. They were always ready to do anything to help around but mostly they were there for the meals. When my sister and I got home, we all ate lunch. Then we did homework together. My parents were talking to these children the same way they spoke to us about the education. It was expected of them as well as us. Their parents faced a really rough road financially and as a family. They ended up taking their own routes. But, before that, there were many fights arguments and abuse. Children went through a many fearful nights and a number of financial struggles.

After the father left the family, financial issues really hit them. My parents took care of the two children a lot. Their meals, clothes and books for school were taken care of as much as possible by my parents. It was not easy for my parents but they did it. The two children had to show good grades, that was a must with my parents. At one point their mother moved to the capital Colombo for a better job. Children struggled a lot at that time. My parents did not want the children to be a part of child labor market and to give up on education.  My parents care, love of education kept them going. Their mother got married again had another child but it changed life for the older two children. My sister and I went to college and they both went to technical colleges. They both got jobs, got married, and today they both are living in the capitol, Colombo with their own families. Their youngest brother works overseas.

When I read the blog assignment, this came to my mind as this is something happened while growing up but still it has a spot in my heart for what my parents did. When I go back to Sri Lanka I still get to see them and talk about those days. I thought this is something worth sharing as it has a personal meaning to me.

I chose child labor issue in India and Sri Lanka. There are situations regarding child labor happening in Sri Lanka. It mostly happens due to the poverty in rural parts of the country. There are laws against it but not much successful in rural Sri Lanka. It is not a massive problem similar to some other parts of Asia. But it is something against the rights of a child. Most of the children work in agricultural workforce afterschool. They are their parents helping hands. Sometimes boys work in stores as helpers or sales personal. But for the girls it is different. Sometime they have to leave home and be a domestic helper for a family in a city. Children are not commonly involved in factory workforce. In Sri Lanka, poverty and lack of parental education are the major reasons for this situation. Due to the war activities that took place in the northern part of Sri Lanka, there were huge complaints regarding Child Soldiers in that area. As the war is over now these children are having a hard time finding work or getting use to a regular lifestyle.

It is a totally different situation in certain parts of India. The factories move in to the villages to find cheap labor. They get parents and children to work for the same factory. The working conditions are in reality hazardous, and toxic. Children working in firework factories and matchstick factories have to breathe in the toxic materials. Carpet making, as well as garment factories are very common in India as well. Most of the times, children are away from their homes. They are working and living at the same place, for a very small amount of money. These children are not getting fed much nutritional food. They work long days for very small amount of money.  They are exhausted due to long work hours and malnutrition. Government is trying to take care of the situation but there is not much success yet. The reason behind it is that most of this is taking place in far away places from the cities and towns. In rural villages this situation is not uncommon as this has being going on for generations. It has turned in to a common practice to get children’s help to improve family finances and no one complains about it. At the same time, this issue is not some thing that is taking place only in Sri Lanka or India. This is a common struggle in Asia, Africa, and South America as well as in all the other developing countries around the world. Even as a child, I did not like the idea of making children work for money, so they can help their families. It is still disturbing to me to see that this is taking place in the country that I grew up in. I hope the situation will change soon for the better.

       

References:

http://www.indianchild.com/child_labor_india.htm

http://www.ilo.org/legacy/english/regions/asro/newdelhi/ipec/responses/india/index.htm

http://www.pangaea.org/street_children/asia/carpet.htm

http://www.ilo.org/legacy/english/regions/asro/newdelhi/ipec/responses/srilanka/index.htm

http://www.colombopage.com/archive_10A/Jun22_1277146241CH.php

Child Development and Public Health

The area I chose under the public health umbrella is Nutrition and Malnutrition.  Nutrition, hunger, obesity, and malnutrition are very well used words of the public health sector these days. A baby needs good nutrition to stay healthy and grow healthy. Baby’s nutrition plays a major part in the brain development, the learning skills, as well as the effective functioning of different systems of the human body.

For the first four months of the life, a baby totally depends on the breast milk or formula. Then around four to six months of age, a baby is ready to start on solid food. By the first birthday, a healthy baby should be able to handle the foods that rest of the family eats. This is the average developmental routine of a growing baby. But there are more possibilities for change and differences from this norm.

When it comes to malnutrition, the simple explanation is that the children do not get age appropriate amount of calories. Malnutrition is the reason for a brain to not develop normally. Preventive diseases can be lethal for a malnourished child.  Marasmus is a disease that starts during the prenatal months. It basically stops the growth of the baby and eventually death happens. Kwashiorkor is another disease that happens due to the malnutrition after age one.

As an early-childhood educator, nutrition facts as well as malnutrition facts matter to me as I work with the children who are in both categories. Children are checked by their physicians before they come to the program regarding height, weight and other development factors, iron levels and toxic levels. The teachers have to measure weight and height and track the BMI numbers two times a year. So these facts are very important for me have a better understanding.

Combination of malnutrition and infections is the leading reason behind the death among the children of the developing countries.  For the nutrition and malnutrition topic from a different part of the world, I chose Tibet in Central Asia. It is the plateau of Central Asia and some calls it as the roof of the world. Situated north of Himalayas, two major neighboring countries are India and China. Economy of the country is mainly agriculture and tourism (recently much popular). It is one of the developing counties in the Central Asia worldly known especially for His Holiness Dalai Lama. After the Chinese government entering in 1951 Tibet is not an independent nation any more. Tibet is a very agricultural country, but having to face many difficulties regarding nutrition currently.  Tibet consists of urban area population, farming population and nomadic population. Most urban areas are sufficient with food and so called junk food as well. In the farming communities, they have access to meat, vegetables, fruits and milk. But with new laws they have to pay more taxes. In order to do that, they have to sell more crops. Selling more crops or meat always below the market price leaves much less for the family to survive. People are always trying to pay dues accordingly as they are in fear of the government. Nomadic families have to face the situation of following government rule of limited number of killing of their animals to sell and paying more money as taxes. Nomadic life style gives them less access to vegetables and fruits as well.  Less money in hand means limited opportunity to fulfill nutritional needs of the families.

These reasons have created plenty of health difficulties for the growing children as well as adults in Tibet. Physical and mental developments of hundreds of thousands of children are threatened by malnutrition. Recent findings show that Tibetan children’s short height does not have any connection to the high altitude of the nation or genetics of the population. It is all due to malnutrition. Vitamin D deficiency is the biggest reason behind it. Diarrhea and pneumonia are also two very common fetal diseases of growing children in the Tibet. Due to living hardships lots of Tibetan people are leaving their country to India and Nepal as refugees. This is just one situation that is happening in one country, but this represent what is going on with most developing countries in the world and how it affects the children of those nations.

http://www.terma.org/shambhalasun052004.pdf

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200102013440504
http://www.terma.org/NEW%20Media.html

My Childbith Experience in Sri Lanka

I am going to write about my own experience that took place in Sri Lanka 15 years ago (an island nation in Indian Ocean). My husband and I were married for 2 years at that time, we were ready to be parents. It was the most exciting news ever. My husband and I were two college graduates working in two different areas of Sri Lanka. We got home in the middle of the week and then for the week end. This is typical of Sri Lanka for the first few years of a teacher’s life.  It was a must to serve in the rural parts of the country after the teachers graduated. When we found out that I was pregnant no one wanted me to go back to the school where I was, as I was there alone. But I was confident enough to believe they will take care of me as my husband, my side of the family and his side of the family and everyone else. . All of a sudden I was in the center of the attention.  I continued working and went to a Doctor in my town every month; I got to go to the free clinic in my school area as they wanted me to come there so badly. I never needed medicines or vitamins but they checked my blood pressure, baby’s growth and weight gain, blood work and all.  Children always brought me all kinds of fresh vegetables and fruits that they could find in their gardens. Staff members fed me like I was some kind of a starving child. Always everyone has to remind” You have to eat for two”. When I was with family, it was the same. I never had any complications. One morning of morning sickness and that was it. I ate, worked, walked a lot, and life went on.  It was all the love and care that kept the pregnant woman and the baby well taken care of. Lots of involvement with the religious base as well. It was not about praying for what I wanted but it was more of keeping mind calm and peaceful. It was a good way to keep stress levels to the minimum.

I paid the price of my no complication pregnancy, at the child birth moment. My doctors warned about the possibility of a C-section due to my smaller hip structure. But they wanted to give me the experience of a natural birth first. I had pains for hours; I was in the labor room for hours. My cousin who was a final year medical student at the time was my messenger between my husband, family members and myself.  Husband or any other family was not allowed in the labor room unless otherwise they had something to do with the child birth. After a long ordeal they decided to go for the C- section.  I was one exhausted human being by then.

Out of wedlock babies are like a taboo in my native land. Alcohols, drugs, smoking are not common among women at all. Every woman follows the old wise rules:  no acidic foods, no too much of shell fish, and no caffeine and list goes on. Delivering babies at home is a thing of the past, even in rural areas clinics and midwifes take care of the pregnant women and the baby and when it is time for the baby’s arrival it happens at a hospital. If any more care is needed beyond their capability then they will transfer the patient to a bigger and advanced hospital at the nearest city. Months before the due date, pregnant woman go to her parents or his parents home for the delivery of the baby. It is the cultural rule. After the arrival of the baby, at least for 3 months mother and baby stay there surrounded by the adult help and care. It is all about the baby’s and mother’s wellbeing.

There are many traditional ways of taking care of the mother and the baby. There is a paste made out of herbs that is given to the baby with breast milk within the first few days. It is to take care of the baby’s digestive system.  There are foods that are given to the mother to take care of mothers healing as well as to improve immunity of the baby and the mother. There is a combination of herbs boiled in water for the first several baths of the mother. There are different herbal mixes to boil with water for the baby. After a warm bath, the mother gets a massage from her mother or another elderly woman. Mother’s belly gets a tight wrap with a cotton fabric to strengthen the back and belly muscles back to normality. All the massages take care of the left over placenta and anything and everything after a child’s birth.  Mother’s meals are always well balanced with natural components that are good for the health of the baby.  Breast feeding is a must. It is the dream of every mother. There are formula milk for the babies at the stores but that is only if needed.

Typically a working mother gets 3 months of fully paid time off and 3 months of half paid time. So mother can be with the baby full time. Even after the mother returns to work, other family members like grandmother, grand aunty volunteers to be with the baby with some help from others in the neighborhood. If the baby’s family lives far away from grandparents home, the grandparents will move in with them for a while.  Day care for very young children is not very popular in Sri Lanka. It is only available in large commercial cities.  Most women typically give up work for good at the end of the three months time off as they did not want to leave their babies. I was one of those mothers. I would not make up my mind to leave my baby, so I decided to let my principal know that. Then when she was barely 3 months old we left Sri Lanka for my husband’s higher studies. We visited Sri Lanka every few months at that time, to let the baby experience of being surrounded by relatives.