Insights Into Poverty

I have yet to receive a response on my correspondence, so I am going to share the insights I have learned from:


http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/


1. The effects of malnutrition can last into adulthood causing life long learning difficulties and health problems.

2. An estimated 1 in 4 children worldwide live in absolute poverty.  10 million children die each year from diseases that could be prevented.  Children are the most vulnerable when it comes to poverty.

3. Poverty can last for generations, passed on from parent to child, affecting society, the well being of families, and affecting long term health.  To erase poverty and malnutrition, it must begin with children. 

The facts were eye opening to me.  It is easy to just keep focused on what is happening in your own town, but when you see the worldwide facts, it is startling.  These insights will help me grow as a person and as a professional.  Once made aware, a problem can no longer be ignored. 

 The website -  http://www.naccrra.org/

 The link to the NACCRRA Newsletter - http://capwiz.com/naccrra/mlm/signup/


The site I choose to follow is the NACCRA.  The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies works with several hundred public child care agencies to ensure families can find and afford quality child care.  To achieve this, the NACCRA offers trains, resources and best practice standards to child care professionals.  The NACCRA  do research and collect data on current trends in child care, and they offer free information for parents looking for affordable childcare. 

The NACCRRA Newsletter follows any and all issues that affect childcare.  The issue that caught my eye in a recent is the issue of State Background checks for licenced child care workers.  Apparently it is not always required in all stated for child care workers to have a background check done, and the states that do require it have laws that widely vary.  The NACCRRA is lobbying congress to make it mandatory for anyone working with children to have a background check done.  I had no idea that this was still an issue in this day and age.  I was happy to read that the NACCRA is lobbying for safety in childcare. 

Website

The website I will be following is the National Association of Child Care Resources and Referral Agencies.  This site keeps professionals up to date on all matters that affect child care and early childhood education.  I think this will be an invaluable tool for me as I am usually too busy to watch the news, but I regularly check my e-mail! 

Professional Pen Pals

To contact professionals around the world, I used the the Global Alliance of NAEYC website.  I focused on English speaking countries because I do not know any other languages well enough for corespondence! 

The four people I contacted were:

NetherlandsInternational Step by Step Association
Sarah Klaus
Email: sklaus@issa.nl


Canada
Canadian Child Care Federation
Yvonne Dionne
Email: ydionne@cccf-fcsge.ca

Ireland
OMEP Irish National Committee
Nippa - the Early Childhood Organization
Siobhan Fitzpatrick
Email: siobhanf@nippa.org


China – Hong Kong
OMEP National Committee for Hong Kong
Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Association
Dr. Betty Chan Po-king
20 Somerset Rd. Kowloon Tong, Kowloon
Hong Kong
Tel: 852-23396005
Email: sannas@ycef.com


I started this project on Wednesday, and so far I have recieved a return mail saying that Yvonne's (from Canada) e-mail was closed.  I am still hopeful that I will recieve an e-mail back from one of these professionals to further my understand international customs regardig early childhood education.