Violence

As you all know in Mexico there is a strong war between the government and the cartels. Violence has struck everybody in some way or the other. In my particular case I have a friend who personally experienced the cartel violence along with her son. She was walking with her son to daycare at Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. It was like any other normal morning for Christina and her son, all of the sudden, she hears a car skidding towards them. The car was persecuting a truck and they happened to start firing their guns right in front of them. A caregiver was nearby and yelled to Christina and her son to hurry up, luckily they made it and were safe inside the school. From that experience Christina’s son gets nervous when he hears high pitch sounds resembling those of a gun. Sometimes he still has nightmares about it and wakes up frightened. Christina and her son coped with that stressor just like any other family in Juarez, trying to forget and be aware of their surroundings anywhere they go.

 It is important to mention that many middle class people in Juarez moved to El Paso as refugees for the inconsolable violence in Juarez and started a new life. Those children who migrated to the U.S. and have been exposed to some kind of violence due to the cartels’ war or assault violence may suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Here is a little piece of information about what is going on to those kids at El Paso.

Mental health and judicial experts say that children from Mexico attending schools in the U.S. can be just as vulnerable to PTSD after being exposed to beheadings, mutilated bodies lying by their schools or hanging from highway overpasses, gun fights, family and friends murdered or disappeared, or having actually been victims themselves. The toll may be an unexplored explanation for truancy, behavioral issues, poor academic performance, and inability to concentrate in class.

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/06/13/mexico-violence-creates-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-in-children/#ixzz27tTpKj29

Malnutrition

The topic that I chose for this week’s blog is, malnutrition. Health is the most important factor that a child must poses for an optimal development. Without proper health care the rest is history. 

The country that I was interested on was Afghanistan. The rates are very impressive and demolishing. In Afghanistan 60% of all children suffer of malnutrition. Children between 6 months and 2 years old are part of the 50% who have anemia. This is like a vicious cycle leading one thing to another. Almost 50% of women who aren’t pregnant lack of iron, so when they become pregnant that deficiency worsens and affects the mother as well as the baby. Malnutrition leads to poor development of cognitive skills, schooling and productivity. As a consequence the work force in the country decreases, which leads to the impoverishment of the country, making it hard to provide enough health services for the people.

Malnutrition affects a whole nation, not only a few. This affects my future teaching because if children are not well nourished their eagerness to learn, physical activities, comprehension, social behavior, and cognitive development in school, would be affected do to this devastating problem.  

Reference:

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTAFGHANISTAN/Resources/Afghanistan-Reconstructional-Trust-Fund/Malnutrition_inAfghanistan_for_High_level_audience.pdf

Different countries, different birth methods

Giving birth to my two girls will always be the most memorable experience that my brain will ever remember. Thanks to our Lord,  they turned out to be very healthy natural births with no complications. I had both births 4 years apart, but the nervousness and fatigue were the same. I want to talk about my last one since it was only four months ago. My second girl’s name is Rennata, when she was born everything happened so slowly but when I started pushing she was with us in only 25 minutes. It seems that mothers are the only ones who suffer when going through labor, but babies also are tense. They experience a rise of adrenaline much stronger than a heart attack, they breathe for the first time, and it is pointless to say that it is crucial that they perform this action vigorously. After giving birth, many mothers could suffer depression. Post-partum depression affects the mother directly and indirectly to the baby. A recent study on depression showed that mothers who didn’t interact with their babies with apathy (due to depression), these babies demonstrated major implications with their heart and brain development (Berger, 2009). Without a doubt, the task of being born and being dependable from older adults is not easy. We are so vulnerable at this stage, that any abnormal situation could be perpetrated in our lives.

Cultural influences are so strong, that even births are different because of this. I chose the Netherlands as a country to learn more about births. In Holland about 50 % of women give birth at their home. Doctors are only required for uncommon cases. Another interesting fact, was that the epidural in only given if it fits the anesthesiologist’s schedule, or if an obstetrician demands it. Definitely, here in the U.S. we are pampered and spoiled. I honestly can’t think myself surviving without the epidural. But I guess is always from a cultural point of view.

References

Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Schalken, L. (n.d.). Birth customs around the world. Retrieved from http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/vaginal/birth-customs-around-the-world/?page=2