Final Blog Assignment

Over the past eight weeks I have learned so much. I have had the opportunity to learn about children in Kenya first hand from my international contact Amos Balongo and his organization Camp Ohana. I have read about many of my colleagues experiences with different wedsites which has given me so much new information, you have all taught me to broaden my personal resource library! I just want to thank everyone for helping me learn and grow over these past eight weeks and I wish you all the best in the future and hope to continue having classes with you and learning from you. 

From talking with Amos and learning about Camp Ohana I shared with him that I was interested continuing to learn from him and helping with Camp Ohana. I feel very passionate about his organization and what they are accomplishing and am happy that this class helped me to form an even better relationship with him that allows me to help with children internationally. 

I have learned what a quality program components should be part of one. I hope to start changing the facilities within the Department of the Navy and continue with the rest of Hawaii to insure that we are providing quality programs for children. 

I hope that everyone in this field is able to grow professionally and that we are able to change children lives everywhere. Amos had wrote me and said that he wish to change children’s lives one child at a time. This is a very wide open topic but I would have to agree with him and hope to have a part in doing so. 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

Camp Ohana is Amos Balango’s dream. He is hoping to break group at the end of  2013. Amos said hopefully the project will be finished in 2014. http://www.campohana.org.

Amos said he wants to “change the world one child at a time.”

Amos also told me about the education system in Africa. He said in rural areas they have untrained teachers. These teachers do not receive any kind of education. Next he said they had teacher schools. This is what most people go to and it is similar to an associates degree. Last, teachers can attend University, this is the same as a four year college here. Some students also go to universities in other countries but these students are extremely wealthy he said. 

Sharing Web Resources

This week I learned that the children’s Defense Fund is everywhere. You can follow them on Facebook, twitter,youtube, etc. They are trying varies avenues to getting their cause known. 

I receive the Children’s Defense Fund’s newsletters. This weeks newsletter outlined budget cuts and after reviewing this weeks tops I see that these budget cuts are taking place in the poor areas in our society. This is making quality care establishments hard for our poor communities to access. The article said:

1. Protecting children from all budget cuts. Children are the poorest age group in America and child hunger, homelessness and poverty have risen dramatically in recent years. We must stop the downward mobility of millions of poor children and the disappearance of America’s dream of a better life for the next generation that will result if Congressional extremists prevail.

2. Investing in children to strengthen our nation’s economic future. Leading economists agree that quality childhood development and education investments are sound economic investments. We need healthy, educated children who are our principal national security. That many leaders in the House are recklessly proposing to slash these investments is economically foolish.

3. Ensuring the richest and most powerful contribute their fair share. The gap between the rich and poor is the highest ever recorded. Yet shrill partisan voices in Congress seek to further widen that gap with rigid no new tax pledges. It’s time to end massive tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, close tax loopholes for huge corporations, and help our poorly educated and suffering children.

Children’s Defense Fund

I also explored the website and found a link to a New York Times article titled, “Bloomberg to Use Own Funds in Plan to Aid Minority Youth”. The article goes along with this weeks topic on Awareness, Accountability, and Responsiveness. 

Resources:

Barbaro, M. & Santos, F. (2011). Bloomberg to Use Own Funds in Plan to Aid Minority Youth. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/nyregion/new-york-plan-will-aim-to-lift-minority-youth.html?_r=2&hp

The Children's Defense Fund. (2011). http://www.childrensdefense.org/

Matthews, H., & Ewen, D. (2010). Early education programs and children of immigrants: Learning each other's language. Retrieved from the Urban Institute website: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412205-early-education.pdf