Poverty and Hunger, Stressors that hinder Child Development

     When I thought about stressors that hinder child development, my mind instantly went to my own childhood memories.  My mother was a single mother with ten children to raise.  She tried working, but with baby sitting cost, and taking public transportation to and from work was a big burden for her to bear.  On top of all of that, she had a sick child.  My brother Eddie had a heart condition so she was constantly at Children's Memorial hospital with him while a nieghbor watched the res of us.  My mother had to quit working to be there for my brother, and that is when all of our problems began.  My mother had to apply for public assistance so she could get money to buy food and pay for housing.  One would think that it was a great plan and we could live off the fat of the land, but there is a problem with that.  My mother waited every month for a small check to pay the rent, but would not cover the bills.  She got what is called food stamps to buy food, but because the housing we could afford was in horrible conditions because she couldn't pay more, our home was filled with rats and roaches.  The landlord wouldn't do anyhing to fix anything because all he wanted was the money each month.  the food my mother bought never lasted for the month because either the rats got to it, or the roaches definetly got to it.  I remember waking up one night hearing my mother crying.  I had never heard my mother cry before.  I was fourteen at the time.  I sat with my mother and after a while I asked her why she was crying.  She said she was crying because she didn't know how she was going to fed us that week.  I told her I would get a job to help her.  I don't know how I was able to convince my school counselor, and the director of the boys and girls club in my neighborhood, but the gave me a job and I helped my mother by givig her my paycheck every other week to help with the food and bills.  I never had new clothes when I was young, I always had to wear my brothers hand me downs.  It wasn't easy, and sme of the students that I work with face similar situations on a day to day basis, so I tell them my story and use that to help motivate them to do well in school so that they can become something special in the future. 

This is my precious mother

     I have been thinking about country I should write about, and fo some reason I keep going back to Africa.  I have seen some devastating pictures of the famine and hunger there, and it breaks my heart.  I learned that 30 to 50 % of the children there are malnurished.  I learned that many people have no drinking water, something that most of us take for granted.  I learned that because of the drought that many babies never reach the age of five years old.  I also learned that many children there in Somalia never attend school because there are no schools there for them to attend.  There are relief agents trying to help these people, but there is still much that needs to be done.  These agents send food and water to Somalia, but because the need is so great it seems like nothing is being done.  My heart cries out for these people, and I hope and pray that maybe one day I may be an agent that can help fight the hunger and poverty in Somalia, and give these precious children a chances to live and be someone important.