Getting to Know Your
International Contacts—Part 1
Administration
for Children and Families (ACF)
Contact person: Jessica
Taeden
Location: Bulgaria
Telephone: +359 2 943 32 51
Website:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/about
E-mail Address: jtt@mail.ctl
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the United States
Department of Health and Human Services and is headed by the Assistant
Secretary for Children and Families. It
has a $49 billion budget for 60 programs that target children, youth and
families. This agency is responsible for
federal programs which promote the economic and social well-being of families,
children, individuals, and communities.
Jessica who lives is Bulgaria used to teach fifth
grade before joining the Administration for Children and Families, where she
has been working for the past three years.
Jessica has worked with children and their families throughout her
career. She spoke to me about how
impoverished this country is and how it does not seem to get any better. I asked Jessica about the school environment
for young children in Bulgaria. She
replied by saying that “Early childhood education is encouraged for the healthy
development and nurturing of many important foundations. Trends show that parents here in Bulgaria are
increasingly recognizing that children need a good education in order to pull
themselves out of the poverty levels they are experiencing. Jessica stated that many of the issues are centered
on hunger and living environments. She
stated that many children in Bulgaria do not attend school because there is a
lack of resources such as books, teachers, school buildings, etc. This is a poorly developed country. Jessica has had occasion to visit families
where an entire family of eleven lived in a single room in which nine were
young children, some no more than babies.
Some of them were crying because they were hungry, and there was nothing
to eat. Another family did not have
plumbing or even a toilet; they had to go nearby about a mile in order to use
the toilet. She stated poverty levels in
Bulgaria are enormous and with all the help they receive from other countries,
it does not seem to make too much of an impact.
Jessica stated that during her time as a teacher,
during the holiday season she would bring each child one new outfit. There were 8 students in her class. She would also give each of them a gift bag
to take home and pray that they would enjoy it.
Jessica stated that world hunger is so rampant; she feels that there is
really no solution that will stop it, basically because of growing
populations. She does all she can to
help children develop, grow and learn, although sometimes she feels that it is
not even worth it because many of the children miss school, and by the time
they return, some weeks later, they have forgotten what they have already
learned. There are so many young
children who are hungry in the world that it seems that when you help or sponsor
one; it does not make a different because there are so many more out
there.
Jessica feels that poverty and hunger will never
end, basically because of the population growth. The more food that is grown the more
populations increase. Not matter what we
do or how we do it the hunger problem throughout the world will only increase
instead of decrease of stop.
OMEP
- USA
Contact person: Tara
Myers
Location: Jamaica
Telephone: 1(876) 234-4589
Website: omepusa.fatcow.com/omep/OMEP%20USA%20Bylaws%20approved%2...
Tara works for OMEP - USA in Jamaica. OMEP
is one of the oldest and largest international organizations that focus on
early childhood. The goal of OMEP – USA
is to ensure the well-being, rights, and education of children (birth – age 8)
and their families in the USA and around the world, today and in the
future. From a professional standpoint,
she feels that poverty basically destroys our common humanity and creates
barriers that make communication impossible.
I asked Tara what her thoughts were regarding young children and poverty
regarding the field of early childhood.
Tara stated that in Jamaica many children go hungry. Out of every eight children one goes to bed
hungry. This has a devastating effect on
a young child’s development process.
Many children are so weak sometimes that they barely make it in to
school, and many of those who do come are very sick basically because of the
contaminated water and food that is spoiled.
Our main focus is to help
children get immunizations so that they may remain healthy. Some schools provide three nutritious meals,
while others provide what they can, which may sometimes only be a half piece of
fruit for breakfast. Tara stated that being
healthy is one of the most important factors in relation to a young child’s
development process.
In regards to poverty around the world
Tara feels that under nutrition rates are much higher than the prevalence of undernourishment.
She feels that one way to decrease hunger throughout the world is for farmers
to increase the amount of foods they plant and partner with communities to
address immediate food needs while at the same time grow sustainable food for
the future. They should prepare for the
rapidly growing population throughout the world. Basically the success of the endeavor will
depend on social engagement on the part of all farmers. We have to connect with them in ways that are
supportive, patient and ultimately highly productive. This process still may not end world hunger,
but it is a start. This is only my
opinion.
