Getting to Know your Internation Contacts Pt 1

Initially I contacted Ms. Michele Berthelot, a regional specialist in education, from the Santiago, Chile office of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. She responded within a few days informing me that she worked with adult education. She forwarded my contact information to her colleague and told me I could contact her. I wrote to Mrs. Rosa Blanco, the regional specialist in Inclusive and Early Childhood education, concerning the issue of poverty and how it impacts the work she does for the UNESCO and its population but I did not hear back from her yet. I am still holding out hope that I will be able to establish this contact and use it for future assignments.

I examined the website of the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre’s page (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/) and read about the child poverty in Kyrgyzstan. I learned:

·         The funding for CHIP has been depleted but the website is still available for use by organizations and individuals for policy and advocacy purposes.

·         CHIP also coordinated with the Save the Children organization to help eradicate childhood poverty.

·         “Over 600 million children world-wide live in absolute poverty - an estimated 1 in 4. In many countries, rates are much higher with over 60 percent of children living in households with incomes below international poverty lines. Over 10 million children under five still die every year from preventable diseases - the vast majority of them in developing countries” (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/)

·         The CHIP website includes a photo gallery, case studies, and video clips of the four countries highlighted on the website.

Poverty, especially for young children, is far reaching. The statistical information given on the website is shocking. The fact that so many children suffer from being poor which contributes to malnourishment, lack of vaccinations, and low educational attainment is sad. One thing that I have taken away from exploring the websites is how important advocacy is and policy changes are needed in order to protect the youngest population.

Sharing Web Resources

I chose the National Black Child Development Institute, which has a local chapter in my city. This organization addresses issues concerning young children, specifically issues related to African-American children. However, the information is beneficial to all young children. The NBCHI website addresses the organizations initiatives which are literacy, child welfare, education, nutrition and health.

The current NBCHI newsletter has an article on autism that contained some statistical information I did not know. There was an article on speaking to young children about unemployment and the current economic situation in our country. It gave suggestions on what to say by the developmental age/stage of the child. That article related to the changing demographics and diversity because of families becoming more transit with the economic recession.

I read a position paper that the organization issued on protecting the benefit of pre-k programs by strengthening the transition to elementary school. After the third grade the educational gap between children that attended a quality preschool program and those that did not disappears. It is the position of NBCHI that school districts should structure elementary schools to have full day programs for preschool and kindergarten, and then transition families through the other grades to build on the foundation established.

Current NBCDI Newsletter

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

I decided to contact two individuals in order to expand my resources internationally. One of the professionals is from the United Kingdom and the other is in Chile. I will happily share if I hear back from them. I like the idea of communicating with other early childhood professionals in other parts of the world. How exciting!

The website and newsletter I decided to follow is the National Black Child Development Institute. This organization has a local chapter in my city and I have seen literature at my local library about events the organization participated in. The Detroit chapter president is also a director for NBCDI. The website list initiatives in literacy, education, health and nutrition that I am excited to learn about.

http://nbcdi.org/