The stressor I’m choosing to
write about is poverty. growing up I was always a good child. I never got into
any trouble while in school, but the people I would hang out with always seem
to have something going on. In our text, it states “it appears that the poor of
the world are getting poorer and many believe that this is caused by the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank imposing a free market economy
on the economics of Africa. (Smidt, 2013) One of my good friend I grew up with
lived in poverty. Her mom received food stamps, and got a check every month to
help support her and her siblings. There father was not in their lives to help
support them. Their mother had to get a part time job just to try and make ends
meet. One thing I did notice about her was that she had this smell to her, I’m
not sure if it was her clothes that smelled or if her house carried the odor. I
know a couple of times we walked in the school bathroom and she was leaning
over the sink washing her face and brushing her teeth. My friends and I was
trying to find a way to talk to her and see what was going on, and if there was
any way we could help but I told them maybe only one of us should speak to her
on the matter because if we all did it could come out as being embarrassing and
we were not trying to make her feel bad we only wanted to help her. After talking
it out with my friends they thought it would be best if I spoke to her. When I started
talking to her about the situation I could see in her face that she was embarrassed
because her eyes started to water. I pulled her into a hug letting her know
that we are only trying to help but I can’t help if she doesn’t let me know
what’s going on she came out and explained that their water got turned off
about a week ago because her mom didn’t have the money. So, what I suggested
was that her and her mom and her other 2 siblings came to my house to have
their bath every night. She went home and talk to her mom and said they agreed
with what I suggested and over time her hygiene problem got better. My friend’s
home life may have been considered poverty level but she never let that affect
her education. when we graduated from high school she was one of the top 5 graduates.
I still see her from time to time and she would always bring up how helpful I was
to her in school, and through her experience of being one of the less privileged
growing up has made her a better parent because she knows how it is to not have
much and she would make sure her children never experience what she had to go
through growing up.
Child poverty in Brazil
In the article, I chose it
states that “In Brazil a common cause is abandonment by underprivileged families
unable to feed their children, and more common cause is AIDS. Other causes are
the death of parents or family members, violence in the home, drug taking and
alcoholism. Once children resort to living on the street there is rarely any
way back from this life, and the life expectancy of a child living on the
streets is terrifyingly low few expect to see their 18 birthdays.” (Children of
Bahia, 2005) A child that does not have enough help from their parents and
families seek a sense of belongings in other things, like running away, drugs,
and joining a violent gang. Many parents that live-in poverty that have more
than one child to raise often think it’s better if the oldest child leave
quickly so then that’s one less mouth they must feed. “Most children on the
streets are between the ages of about 5 and 18 years old” (Children of Bahia,
2005) The children that live on the street of Brazil are called street children
majority of these kids inhale glue to get high. “glue inhaling as it is inexpensive
than the alternatives. Drugs help the children not think about their life for a
while, but have a disastrous effect on their mental and physical health. They contribute
a lot to the downward spiral of a child’s life and may cause a child to become
virtual zombie as mental function is increasingly impaired” (Children of Bahia,
2005) To assist in problems there are programs in place that children can go
get information on certain issues and assist in getting them back on track. In addition,
this this program meets once a week and provides the children with good food
and safe time to play and be the children they are, during this time the
educators use play to help teach them in certain key messages. Furthermore, it
acts as a support group for mothers that attend, majority shoom have HIV/AIDS
they talk about nutrition and hygiene, as well as other issues like; violence,
drugs, alcoholism, medical issues. Everybody gets a medical checkup and appropriate
medication. (Children of Bahia, 2005)
References
Smidt, S. (2013) The developing child in the 21st
century: a global perspective on
child
development. London: Routledge
Children of Bahia, (2005)
Child poverty in Brazil – Facts, Reasons, and what can
Be done Retrieved on May 29, 2017 from: http://www.childrenofbahia.com/childpoverty.htm
