The Consequences Of War On Children

War

     When I was in Fourth grade a girl from Vietnam moved to our town. Gina didn’t speak English very well but we became friends quickly.  One day she invited me to spend the night at her house.  Her home life was very different than mine, she had a mat for a bed, and a huge room where her cousins (living with her) spent time doing martial arts.  Not long after we got home from school, Gina was expected to start supper, while her mom sat in room sewing.  At the dinner table I was put at the far end with a hamburger, french fries and a coke, while her family sat at the other end with bowls of rice and different types of vegetables.  They ate in their traditional positions and style.  I must have been gawking because her mom offered me a taste of what they were eating I remember liking most of it and thinking some of it tasted weird.  Gina and I spent the evening in her room.  She spoke of Vietnam and the war and violence she had seen. She told me of a bridge by a river where she washed clothes, she watched a man get blown up there, and the bridge disappeared.  She spoke of her moms’ village where they hid in an underground cave while the village was destroyed, when they came out of hiding she said they had to walk across the bodies to get to their home.  She cried as she spoke, and said she could never go back or they would hang her for treason for leaving her country to come to America. Gina’s dad was an American soldier who had married Gina’s mom. They had lied about San and Too (her cousins) her parents told the government they were her brothers so they could come to the US too. 

          The psychological effects from the war in Gaza have left children and adults with many scars.   Up to 80% of the children suffer from:

·         Increased violence

·         Sleeping problems, with feelings of fear and anxiety.

·         Changes in attachment to family and community.

·         Various emotional and cognitive problems such as inability to concentrate.

·         Decreasing hope in the future

Muslim Aid is working with families to help cope with the loss of families and help children with the things listed above.

Psychosocial programs seek to limit these effects on children, prevent further harmful events, and strengthen the coping mechanisms of children, their families, and their communities.

Programs to limit the effects on the children and strengthen their coping mechanisms for the children, their families and the community that will prevent further harm are in place. (Mousa, 2009)

References

Mousa, D. Y. (2009, may 2). The Psychological effects of War on Gaza. Retrieved May 28, 2011, from labournet.net: http://www.labournet.net/world/0902/uhwc1.html

Water for the Honduran People

In February I spent ten days in Honduras on a mission trip to help rebuild and fix up apartments for students at a Bible Seminary.  Four months prior to our teams arrival another  team sent a drilling machine that they disassembled to fit into a crate.  When they arrived they put the drill together and began drilling for water at the seminary.  After two weeks the seminary had clean healthy water to drink.  When we arrived the first thing the Director showed us was the well, and with a big smile said drink, no worries.  This was a big celebration to get a well.

 Honduras

• Is the poorest country in Central America along with Guatemala
•  1.2 million people have no water. 
• Hurricane Mitch and rains that followed, cause landslides that wiped out villages and towns. It left 75% of the country without safe drinking water
• Woman and children spend up to six hours a day fetching water
• waterborne diseases like cholera is increasing

Water.org is an organization that helps communities by providing safe drinking water.  They found the greatest success is when they are contacted by the community.  The community becomes a part of the process. To keep a sustainable water supply months of education on how to maintain the well, personal hygiene and sanitation training for the whole village is required.  After the well is drilled the team will come back to the village to make sure good hygiene habits are still going on, because it is not enough to have clean water, diseases will continue if hand washing and proper sanitation are not done right.

reference

http://water.org/solutions/digging/

These are pictures from my trip in February.

This boy is going to fetch water, We didn't see a well here, so I am not sure if the water will be clean or not.

 this  toilet behind the church in the village we were at.

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This is a home in the village, the water is on the right side and she cooks on the left side.

This village was rebuilt with the help of CAM International.  The villagers helped build a church and the church helped every villager build a home.  The man down the road in the green jacket is Charlie Nelson he was instrumental in helping rebuild this village after Hurricane Mitch leveled it and the mud slides buried it.

I had the privilage to visit a school in Seguatepeque.  After recess the teacher inspects the childrens hands after they washed to make sure they are clean enough to enter the classroom.

My husband and I will continue our trips to Honduras to help in anyway we can. We have often thought of moving there and I would look for a teaching position and he would help the people construct whatever they needed.

Pesonal Child Birth Story

When my daughter called and told me she was in labor, I remember my heart skipping a beat.  My first experience with childbirth was not pleasant, giving birth to her at the age of 19 was scary and while the delivery went fine, she was healthy, but the events that followed were not anything I would want anyone to experience. I was a low income, unwed, teenager without insurance living in another state, I new very few people and my boyfriend (husband) had a new job. The expectation for the hospital was to get me out as fast as possible. Due to a fever I was poked and prodded for 24 hours, given a German measles shot just to be safe, and sent home.  I spent 3 days in bed with a fever and my husband had to take off work to take care of me and our baby. After 20 years the memories came back fresh in my mind. On the way to the hospital to see my daughter I said a silent pray to calm me and give her strength.   
When I arrived, she asked me to come into her room.  Little did I know that I would get to witness my first grand baby be born.  Kayla was not dilating the way they wanted her to so she ended up getting a spinal and putosin,  it wore off in time for her to push. She delivered a healthy girl  named Gracie who is now five years old.

Child Birth In India

These are some of the shocking findings of UNICEF's `State of the World's Children 2009' report released on Thursday.

·         According to the report, an Indian woman is 300 times more likely to die in childbirth or from pregnancy-related complications than women in America or England. For every mother who dies, 20 others suffer pregnancy-related illness. Around 10 million women annually experience such adverse outcomes.

·         Despite an increase in institutional deliveries, 60% of pregnant women still deliver their babies at home.

·         In India, more than two-thirds of all maternal deaths occur in a handful of states -- UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, MP, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Assam.

·         In UP, one in every 42 women faces risk of maternal death, compared to 1 in 500 women in Kerala.

·         As far as neonatal deaths (within the first 28 days of life ) are concerned, the worst-off states include Orissa (52 deaths per 1,000 live births), MP (51), UP (46), Rajasthan (45), and Chhattisgarh (43).

·         The report points out that babies whose mothers die during the first six weeks of their lives are more likely to die in the first two years of life. "For every 100 children born in the world, 20 are from India. For every 100 children who die globally, 22 die in India," UNICEF India chief Karin Hulshof said.

·         According to her, the health and survival of mothers and their newborns are intrinsically linked. "Many of the same interventions that save maternal lives also benefit their infants. Even though India has cut its under-five mortality rate from 117 per 1,000 live births to 72 between 1990 and 2007, neonatal deaths contribute to 50% of these under-five deaths," Karin added.

·         According to the report, three-quarters of all maternal deaths in India occur from complications either during delivery or in the immediate post-partum period.

·         A quarter of the world's unattended deliveries take place in India, which is one of 10 countries which together account for two-thirds of births not attended by skilled health workers.

·         The report also points to India's shameful statistics regarding breastfeeding. Experts say universalisation of early breastfeeding, within one hour of birth, would reduce neonatal mortality in India by 22% while universalisation of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life would avert nearly 16% of young child deaths.

·         However, the report says only one in four children are breastfed within one hour of birth.

·         Annually, around 6 million children born in India have low birth weigh

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-01-16/india/28034518_1_maternal-deaths-neonatal-deaths-pregnancy-related-complications.