Getting to Know Your International Contacts

We have poverty here in the United States. When you read about countries that are still developing, children are more impoverished that we could ever imagine. In Ethiopia a quarter of all children are underweight. In a study published by Outes and Porter (2012), wealthy children is a relative term. Their study found that the wealthiest children are poor when compared to global standards. Their households have less than a dollar to spend. Ironically, their outcomes are better than those children who are underweight.

Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in Africa and the national rate of undernutrition is 44 per cent (Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey, 2011). In the Young Lives study 2000 children from around the country were first measured when they were aged six months to 18 months in 2002.

Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (2011). Central Statistical Agency, Addis Ababa,

Ethiopia and ICF International, Calverton, Maryland, USA. Ethiopia 2011 Demographic and Health Survey: Final Report.  Heckman, James: Resources on Professor Heckman’s work available at http://www.heckmanequation.org/content/heckman- 101.

Outes, I. & Porter, C. (2012). “Catching up from early nutritional deficits? Evidence from rural

Ethiopia. Economics and Human Biology in press, corrected proof. doi:10.1016/j.ehb.2012.03.001. 

Establishing Professional Contacts

Education Africa: http://educationafrica.org/

Education Africa is an organization that was established in 1992 in South Africa. It is an organization that strives to assist South African disadvantaged children in obtaining a quality, relevant education. This project has been developed to assist caregivers in impoverished communities who are tasked with looking after preschool children while their parents are at work.

South Africa Partners: http://sapartners.org/early-education-2/

South Africa Partners builds mutually beneficial partnerships between the United States and South Africa in the areas of health and education. Having emerged from the U.S. anti-apartheid movement, South Africa Partners was established in 1997.

I have always had an interest in the early childhood education in Africa. This class gives me an opportunity to renew my interests and find out more. I am excited about an opportunity to hopefully build some relationships.