Having an interest in international education, I chose the Global
Fund for Children organization. The link
to the website is http://www.globalfundforchildren.org/
I was compelled by the vision of the organization. According to the vision statement, this organization
seeks to provide “a world where all children have the opportunity to learn,
grow, and thrive” (Global Fund for Children, 2012, para.1). I too want this for the students I teach,
many of whom come from poverty and other harsh situations.
I also like how this organization is community based,
relying on the strength of the communities it serves. The organization works with communities all
over world, including the United States.
The summer newsletter featured an article about child
labor. I was struck by the fact that over
215 million children worldwide are laborers.
These children do not go to school and are victimized at such an early
age. They are robbed of the innocence of
childhood that many experience. A
featured article dealt with a lady named Josefa Condori Quispe who had been a
child laborer, but escaped, and now is working with other young ladies through
this organization, to help them reclaim their life and basic rights.
References:
Global Fund for Children. (2012). About us.
Retrieved July 7, 2012 from http://www.globalfundforchildren.org/about-us/
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ReplyDeleteHi Kristi:
ReplyDeleteGreat Choice and Excellent post.
I remember the first time I visited a country in South America. I saw many children selling candies and water bottle on the streets. They did that during school hours so it was obvious these children were not attending school. Children working were as young as five years old. While I was sight seeing, a little girl was selling brochures of the place I was visiting. Also, if you paid her 33 cents she would tell you the whole story for about the place. I remember I was so sad that I wanted to buy things from all of them. I felt anger, because I realized that many children were not getting the education, care and love that they deserve. I do not blame the family because they obviously do not know any better. I blame the government for not making sure that programs are in place to avoid these actions and provide all children in their country with education and services for the whole family.
I agree with you Marta. However, if we keep buying items from kids who are panhandling (not sure if that’s the correct word for this) are we not contributing to the injustice? What other ways can we influence change? I understand it’s sad and these children only know what they experience. But, if we try and give money to all the children, we’ll go broke! You’re right; the government needs to take action. I read about a program in Brazil that would pay parents for sending their children to school. The more children they had, the more incentive they would receive. This incentive was in the form of money (small amount) and food vouchers. This program was very successful. I hope there were funds in other countries to create some type of program similar to this one.
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