Consequences of Stressors

There are many stressors that children experience in their environment. I am aware of the current stressors that children are experiencing that are highlighted by our text books. I have a firsthand account of the affects that violence has on an individual. Violence is prevalent in many households whether it is against children or domestic.

When I was in the eighth grade, my aunt was murder by her husband in our home. We lived in a five bedroom, two bathroom single level home with 13 people. It was tight but we are a close knit family. For as long as I can remember, the women in my family have endured verbal and physical abuse. Imagine being a child witnessing this type of abuse and being absolutely helpless. My only resource and resolution was to pray. The fear was overwhelming and intolerable. I wanted to run away most times, but I felt as if I was in a world all alone. My siblings, cousins and I would lock ourselves in the room to try and “weather the storm.” And my older males cousins developed raged filled anger that boiled over every time my uncle would go into one of his drunken rages.

On this particular day, my grandmother rushed to pick us up from school. The look on her face was one that I could not describe. She had gotten a phone call from our neighbors that we need to come home immediately. We arrived and our neighbors surrounded the house and they were in a state of shock and disbelief. I can vividly remember feeling my heart pound so hard as if it was about to beat out of my chest. I could hear the sirens as if I was standing next to them on loud speakers. We rushed in the house to see blood everywhere; it was all over our living room sofa, carpet, and wall. He shot her seven times with a 9mm, where she died, and then turned the gun on himself. This is still such a painful memory. I can still see the images clearly and get teary eyed when I reminisce about the memories and pictures that we keep in on the mantel and family albums. To this very day, I cannot stand the sight of guns. They cannot be in my presence, my son can’t play with play ones, I don’t not purchase them and I do not allow them in my home. I cannot tolerate any forms of violence. I am non-confrontational and I do not argue. These actions hold too many bad thoughts and memories. I have never really dealt with the affects that maltreatment, abuse and violence has on me and I don’t think that my siblings/cousins have either. My family has yet to sit down and talk about what took place almost 20 years ago, so I have been holding this hurt and fear bottled up inside. As a family, we continued on but that room still haunts me.

Domestic violence occurs all over the world. Children living in these environmental conditions are traumatized beyond measure. There are several stressors that infect the lives of children in South Africa. Incurable diseases, poverty, and lack of resources are just a few factors that children deal with on a daily basis that have a direct impact on their future. The futures of South African children are extremely vulnerable to these conditions and reflect a crisis facing their livelihoods. The external stressors the lack of food security complicates the well being of the children and their lack of financial resources to support their families. The children of South Africa are unable to cope with such sudden floods or access to limited services which lessens their chances of survival. Coping strategies are being put into place to combat the internal and external stressors that they are encountering. According to (Drimie & Casale, 2009),  “The United Nations (UN), charged with overseeing the unprecedented food aid response in Southern Africa between 2001 and 2006, defined the prevailing situation as the “Triple Threat”: the combination of HIV and AIDS, food insecurity and a weakened capacity for governments to deliver basic social services has led to the region experiencing an acute phase of a long-term emergency (Maunder & Wiggins, 2006).”

Reference

Drimie, S., & Casale, M. (2009, September). Multiple stressors in southern africa: the link between hiv/aids, food insecurity, poverty and children's vulnerability now and in the future. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2904441/  

Nutrition/Malnutrition

“The world produces enough food to feed every man, woman and child on earth. Hunger and malnutrition therefore are not due to lack of food alone, but are also the consequences of poverty, inequality and misplaced priorities.”- UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, Kul C. Gautam.

                In my life, food has played a critical role in my well-being. It is the center of my family traditions and good health. I remember as a child being told to “eat all of my vegetables so that you would grow up to become big and strong” or “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” And now to maintain good health, it is important for me to keep up with proper dieting and exercise. I do not ever remember a day where I didn’t come home to a home cooked meal or went to bed hungry because we didn’t have anything to eat. That’s why it is still so very unbelievable how many of our children around the world do not receive a nutritious meal on a daily basis. It is even sadder that they may not be eating at all. I have often pondered how can something so vital to life be a commodity?

Nutrition/Malnutrition has a critical impact from the womb.  “Proper nutrition is a powerful good: people who are well nourished are more likely to be healthy, productive, and able to learn. Good nutrition benefits families, their communities and the world as a whole” (UNICEF).For under developed regions of the world, food ranks high upon the list of unavailable resources. This lack affects everyone. If mothers suffer from malnutrition, then so will their unborn and probably the whole family. This will also affect factors of sleep, rest, and normal daily functioning. “Malnutrition is, by the same logic, devastating” (UNICEF)

                Somalia has the highest rate of malnutrition around the globe. As of September, more than 200, 000 children are suffering from malnutrition. This cause is not from hunger, but from the malfunction as humanitarians. One third of Somalia is unable to meet the basic essential needs. The poor nutritional status of children results from unclean living environments, unsterile water, health care services, and the quality of dieting and proper infant feeding practices.

The information learned from my research impacts my future work in major ways. As a conscious effort to meet the needs of children as a whole, the service that I provide will accommodate all the factors that influence the lives of children and their development. In order to try to alleviate this issue we must consider the factors that contribute to it and the potential results that are depending on it.

Reference

http://www.unicef.org/somalia/nutrition.html

My Birthing Experience and Others Around the World

      As the new age era approached using technology as its number one source, my nephew was on his way into the world. His mother went to her regularly scheduled appointments and followed the orders of her OBGYN as suggested. As the advancements of ultrasounds and amniocentesis emerged, his mother learned of the devastating news that her prenatal test came back abnormal and that there may be something seriously wrong with her unborn child. Unfortunately, he was born with severe autism and physical deformities. I chose this experience because of the impact it had on me personally as well as my family. It brought us much closer together knowing that we had this fragile life in our hands that we all had to come together to take care of. Everyone in my family committed to the role of being a positive figure in his life knowing that his survival and success relied on us and our roles were vital in his critical life. The research done on prenatal care and child development was essential to us. Becoming educated on the possible affects and life that my nephew would lead better prepared us and accommodated our questions and concerns. The doctor’s diagnosis was that he would not live past the age of two, but I am happy to say that he is now 24 years of age.

                As I was reading about the births in the Sub-Saharan countries of Africa, the death rate of children under the age of five was heart stopping. These deaths were due mostly to malnutrition and diseases. Because this region is under developed due to the war, lack of resources and medical technology, many of these deaths could be preventable if the mothers had access to proper health care services.

                Reflecting on prenatal and child development, I realize how essential it is. We still have other regions in this world that do not have the necessary measures of providing preventative services to mothers and their unborn fetus therefore increasing the death rate caused by the lack of neonatal care. In my experience, it was neonatal care that implicated the condition for which my nephew would be born 24 years ago, and yet it is still not available to all expecting mothers. This has an astounding impact on my perception of child development. Having this science available and not using it is one thing, not having it and needing it is another. I cannot imagine how these mothers might feel losing a child born or unborn.

Reference

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs178/en/index.html