For this blog assignment, I chose to do some research on children and schools in Latin America and the Caribbean. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Nicaragua, with my church, and participate in missions. I loved the area and the people. It is a very different way of love however; the people and children seem very happy.
Latin America and the Caribbean are considered the most unequal region in the world. While there have been notable development leaps that have improved the lives of some children, there remain varying risk gaps that continue to leave millions of other children and their families at risk (United Nations International Children’s Fund, 2011).
Among the challenges children and families are facing, in this area, is poverty. Many families consist of large numbers and are living in deprived conditions. Many families own farms and the children have to work as the parents do in order to provide for the family. These conditions do not afford the children many opportunities to attend school. An estimated 35 million children do not enter any educational program. One of the stories I read described a whole generation being illiterate because they were not able to attend a school. When this generation had children of their own, they were not able to provide any education for their children while at home.
The education of girls and female adolescents is a priority of UNICEF’s global work. Progress has been made in Latin America and the Caribbean in reforming educational systems so that education forms an integral part of national strategies to fight poverty (UNICEF, 2011).
This website provided many different stories about children and their families. One story told of a family consisting of thirteen children. Only one of the little girls had been chosen to attend school through a grant. Some of the other siblings wanted to go. I found this story very disturbing. All of the children should be allowed to attend, but the family cannot afford to pay the cost. I am sure the other children must have felt they were not as good as their sister and have very low self-esteem. Reading this information made me realize how many children are deprived of receiving any education.
While visiting Nicaragua, I went to Corn Island. There was a school on the island however; the children were not required to attend. The school was not free and many families could not afford to send their children. I was able to visit the school and I realized how lucky we are. The school was in need of several repairs and there were hardly any materials for the teachers and students to use. However; these people, living on the island, were some of the happiest and most relaxed people I have ever met.
UNICEF (2011). Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry
Amy, I learned a lot from your interesting, informative blog post this week. It was sobering to learn of the prevalence of illiteracy and the dearth of formal education in this region of the world. The story of the illiterate generation was especially difficult to absorb. In the U. S., we sometimes take for granted the free, high-quality public education that is available to all children. Thank you for helping to educate us about the inequities experienced by children in Latin America and the Caribbean.
ReplyDeleteAmy,
ReplyDeleteIt is sure easy to take what we have for granted after reading and looking at statistical information in different countries. I find it sad also that education is not made a priority in these different regions and that so many children have to work alongside their families in order to survive. I wish we had a quick fix for situations for these different countries. I appreciate you response and hope that you can maybe one day visit this area again. Thank you for sharing about your region!
Amy McCoig