Theordore Dalrymple , (1999) Today, no one seriously expects to go hungry in England or to live without running water or medical care or even TV. Poverty has been redefined in industrial countries, so that anyone at the lower end of the income distribution is poor ex officio, as it were—poor by virtue of having less than the rich. And of course by this logic, the only way of eliminating poverty is by an egalitarian redistribution of wealth—even if the society as a whole were to become poorer as a result.
Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money.[1] Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live in absolute poverty today. Relative poverty refers to lacking a usual or socially acceptable level of resources or income as compared with others within a society or country.[1]
Research has found that there is a high risk of educational underachievement for children who are from low-income housing circumstances. This often is a process that begins in primary school for some less fortunate children. Instruction in the US educational system, as well as in most other countries, tends to be geared towards those students who come from more advantaged backgrounds. As a result, these children are at a higher risk than other children for retention in their grade, special placements during the school's hours and even not completing their high school education.[49] There are indeed many explanations for why students tend to drop out of school.. Additionally, poor children are much more likely to suffer from hunger, fatigue, irritability, headaches, ear infections, flu, and colds.[50] These illnesses could potentially restrict a child or student's focus and concentration.
Over the years there has been a reduction in poverty levels because of organisations like Programm Against Malnutrition. PAM is a local umbrella Non-Governmental Organisation working with more than 100 NGOs. As an umbrella organisation, PAM is working closely with the Zambian Government, Donors and local International Organisations. PAM has developed to be one of the leading accountable and efficient NGO on the Zambian Food Security Network.
References
Theodore Dalrymple, City Journal Spring,1990
Wikipedia.org/wiki.poverty
Share4dev.info/kb/organization.view
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Breastfeeding
This is interesting to me because at four months old my son Lombe refused to feed from my breast, at the time I didnt mind because I always had pain in my stomach after his feeds. The Doctor's explanation was that my nipples were not shaped well enough for him and he probably found the bottle easier, he was very impatient when it came to food. I always thought this would affect our relationship and tried harder in other areas to make up. He is 22 years old and I have never seen any problems in his cognitive development, he was a very naughty boy though but this made interesting reading and I would like to share.
Breastfeeding produces not only healthier babies but also brighter children, according to a study. As little as four weeks of breastfeeding for a new-born infant has a "positive and significant effect" on brain development, it finds, right up to secondary school and beyond.
Children who had been breastfed consistently outperformed their formula-fed peers at ages five, seven, 11 and 14 in tests of reading, writing and mathematics, researchers from the University of Oxford and the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex found.
The NHS already recommends that babies should be breastfed rather than given formula for their first six months, but Britain has one of the world's lowest rates of breastfeeding. Only 35% of UK infants are exclusively breastfed at one week old, 21% at six weeks, 7% at four months and just 3% at six months.
One of the paper's co-authors, Maria Iacovou, a social scientist at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, said that while the health benefits of breast milk were widely known and understood, it had been less clear to what extent there were benefits for cognitive development.
"The issue was that while it looked as though breast feeding did have an impact on cognitive development, no one knew if that was just because the type of mother more likely to breastfeed in the first place was more likely to nurture brighter children, or whether there was a true causal link," she said.
The ISER study – a working paper that will be peer-reviewed at a later date – compared breastmilk-fed children with formula-fed "twins", children who were equivalent in all other observable respects. "We did find there is a link [between breast milk and cognitive development]," said Iacovou. "Breast milk has well-known health benefits and now we can say there are clear benefits for children's brains as well."
Despite the findings, she said, she still supported mothers who decided for whatever reason that breastfeeding wasn't for them. "It really, really wasn't my intention to make any mother feel guilty," she said. "All this talk about bringing up children would sometimes seem to have us think that the child is the only thing that matters. Mothers are people too and have feelings and if you don't want to breastfeed your baby, well, luckily in this country you are not going to cause it harm. They would just do a little bit less well.
"I think we have a lot of challenges to change our culture and attitudes to breastfeeding but it's likely to happen through a gradual process of normalisation. Don't pressurise women who don't want to breastfeed but we should start focusing more on those women who do want to and try to help them pull it off and make it more normal for everyone."
Janet Fyle, professional policy adviser at the Royal College of Midwives, welcomed the research and said that, while it was interesting and further proof of the benefits of breastfeeding, there were several reasons behind the popularity of bottle-feeding infants in the UK.
The UK had a long way to go in normalising breastfeeding in the way other countries had done, she said. "In Sweden most mothers breastfeed because they are not forced to go straight back to work. In this country we are cutting benefits to single parent families and poorer people and mothers have to get back to work and earn a living, whether it's in Sainsbury's or the City – it is what the government wants them to do.
"So we are restricting them from breastfeeding there, while in society breastfeeding mothers are still getting chucked out of cafes and out of libraries. It's a problem.
"Often seeing the mothers who really need to be breastfeeding, really needing their children to be getting those cognitive and health benefits, are the ones least likely to. Then we look at young women today and the messages they are getting from magazines, from television, from certain parts of the media, about what breasts are actually for – there is another area we need to tackle."
She added that it was vital no one should be made to feel guilty. "Cleverer children is one thing that people have never pushed before – it's very easy to make mothers or families feel guilty about the choices they make and that is not in anyone's interest. We need to engage with mothers but also we need to take a softly-softly approach."
www.guardian.co.uk/society
Breastfeeding produces not only healthier babies but also brighter children, according to a study. As little as four weeks of breastfeeding for a new-born infant has a "positive and significant effect" on brain development, it finds, right up to secondary school and beyond.
Children who had been breastfed consistently outperformed their formula-fed peers at ages five, seven, 11 and 14 in tests of reading, writing and mathematics, researchers from the University of Oxford and the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex found.
The NHS already recommends that babies should be breastfed rather than given formula for their first six months, but Britain has one of the world's lowest rates of breastfeeding. Only 35% of UK infants are exclusively breastfed at one week old, 21% at six weeks, 7% at four months and just 3% at six months.
One of the paper's co-authors, Maria Iacovou, a social scientist at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, said that while the health benefits of breast milk were widely known and understood, it had been less clear to what extent there were benefits for cognitive development.
"The issue was that while it looked as though breast feeding did have an impact on cognitive development, no one knew if that was just because the type of mother more likely to breastfeed in the first place was more likely to nurture brighter children, or whether there was a true causal link," she said.
The ISER study – a working paper that will be peer-reviewed at a later date – compared breastmilk-fed children with formula-fed "twins", children who were equivalent in all other observable respects. "We did find there is a link [between breast milk and cognitive development]," said Iacovou. "Breast milk has well-known health benefits and now we can say there are clear benefits for children's brains as well."
Despite the findings, she said, she still supported mothers who decided for whatever reason that breastfeeding wasn't for them. "It really, really wasn't my intention to make any mother feel guilty," she said. "All this talk about bringing up children would sometimes seem to have us think that the child is the only thing that matters. Mothers are people too and have feelings and if you don't want to breastfeed your baby, well, luckily in this country you are not going to cause it harm. They would just do a little bit less well.
"I think we have a lot of challenges to change our culture and attitudes to breastfeeding but it's likely to happen through a gradual process of normalisation. Don't pressurise women who don't want to breastfeed but we should start focusing more on those women who do want to and try to help them pull it off and make it more normal for everyone."
Janet Fyle, professional policy adviser at the Royal College of Midwives, welcomed the research and said that, while it was interesting and further proof of the benefits of breastfeeding, there were several reasons behind the popularity of bottle-feeding infants in the UK.
The UK had a long way to go in normalising breastfeeding in the way other countries had done, she said. "In Sweden most mothers breastfeed because they are not forced to go straight back to work. In this country we are cutting benefits to single parent families and poorer people and mothers have to get back to work and earn a living, whether it's in Sainsbury's or the City – it is what the government wants them to do.
"So we are restricting them from breastfeeding there, while in society breastfeeding mothers are still getting chucked out of cafes and out of libraries. It's a problem.
"Often seeing the mothers who really need to be breastfeeding, really needing their children to be getting those cognitive and health benefits, are the ones least likely to. Then we look at young women today and the messages they are getting from magazines, from television, from certain parts of the media, about what breasts are actually for – there is another area we need to tackle."
She added that it was vital no one should be made to feel guilty. "Cleverer children is one thing that people have never pushed before – it's very easy to make mothers or families feel guilty about the choices they make and that is not in anyone's interest. We need to engage with mothers but also we need to take a softly-softly approach."
www.guardian.co.uk/society
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Lombe's Birth
The Birth of my son-Lombe
The only birth I have ever witnessed is my son’s birth. Lombe was born on the 29th of October in 1989. October is the hottest month in Zambia I could not wait. I had started bleeding in the morning and my sister whom I had been living with and happens to be a midwife said I was still a long way. She told me to keep myself busy and take note of the intervals between the contractions. She reassured me that everything would be alright. I worked and stayed on my feet the whole day and in the night around 22.00hrs she gave me a bath and her and her husband took me to the hospital. When we arrived the nurse said I was 10cm wide and asked me to wait for the Doctor. I was not feeling much pain and kept waiting for more pain. I lay on the bed the whole night and Lombe was taking his time, finally the Doctor decided to use forceps and my sister grabbed them from out of the blues and said, you better stop relaxing and push, I don’t want to tell you what is going to happen to you if he uses these. The nurses asked her to leave and she told them she wouldn’t and that she was a qualified midwife. My sister took over and made me push and when Lombe finally decided to come out my sister took him with no gloves and washed him and brought him to me. Lombe is not allowed to call her aunt its Mummy K because she says its her son. The Nurses forgave her and then she went home to rest. I didn’t have a painful birth I kept expecting more pain during birth, it was only after the stitches that I felt a bit of pain. Lombe weighed 3.8kg. It felt good to be a mother, I have always enjoyed my sleep and mom always laughed at the way I changed to attend to the baby. He is 22 now.
TRADITIONAL CHINESE BELIEFS ABOUT CHILDBIRTH
During pregnancy
In the early months of pregnancy, women should not do any heavy work or have sexual intercourse to avoid a miscarriage..
If a pregnant woman criticizes someone, the baby will look and act like the person criticized.
Since pregnancy is considered a “hot” condition, a pregnant woman should eat “cold” food to keep yin and yang balanced.
Eating shellfish could give the baby rashes while pineapple could cause miscarriages.
The shape and size of the belly could tell you if the baby is a boy or a girl. If the belly is “pointed,” it will be a boy; if “rounded,” a girl.
During labor and delivery
The pregnant woman's mother is present at the first delivery but not for subsequent ones.
The woman should try to be quiet during labor, as crying out will attract evil spirits to the new child.
The ideal position for labor is squatting. The baby will not have enough energy to come out if the mother is lying on her back.
The only birth I have ever witnessed is my son’s birth. Lombe was born on the 29th of October in 1989. October is the hottest month in Zambia I could not wait. I had started bleeding in the morning and my sister whom I had been living with and happens to be a midwife said I was still a long way. She told me to keep myself busy and take note of the intervals between the contractions. She reassured me that everything would be alright. I worked and stayed on my feet the whole day and in the night around 22.00hrs she gave me a bath and her and her husband took me to the hospital. When we arrived the nurse said I was 10cm wide and asked me to wait for the Doctor. I was not feeling much pain and kept waiting for more pain. I lay on the bed the whole night and Lombe was taking his time, finally the Doctor decided to use forceps and my sister grabbed them from out of the blues and said, you better stop relaxing and push, I don’t want to tell you what is going to happen to you if he uses these. The nurses asked her to leave and she told them she wouldn’t and that she was a qualified midwife. My sister took over and made me push and when Lombe finally decided to come out my sister took him with no gloves and washed him and brought him to me. Lombe is not allowed to call her aunt its Mummy K because she says its her son. The Nurses forgave her and then she went home to rest. I didn’t have a painful birth I kept expecting more pain during birth, it was only after the stitches that I felt a bit of pain. Lombe weighed 3.8kg. It felt good to be a mother, I have always enjoyed my sleep and mom always laughed at the way I changed to attend to the baby. He is 22 now.
TRADITIONAL CHINESE BELIEFS ABOUT CHILDBIRTH
During pregnancy
In the early months of pregnancy, women should not do any heavy work or have sexual intercourse to avoid a miscarriage..
If a pregnant woman criticizes someone, the baby will look and act like the person criticized.
Since pregnancy is considered a “hot” condition, a pregnant woman should eat “cold” food to keep yin and yang balanced.
Eating shellfish could give the baby rashes while pineapple could cause miscarriages.
The shape and size of the belly could tell you if the baby is a boy or a girl. If the belly is “pointed,” it will be a boy; if “rounded,” a girl.
During labor and delivery
The pregnant woman's mother is present at the first delivery but not for subsequent ones.
The woman should try to be quiet during labor, as crying out will attract evil spirits to the new child.
The ideal position for labor is squatting. The baby will not have enough energy to come out if the mother is lying on her back.
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