Expanding Horizons and Resources in Early Childhood

Expanding Horizons and Resources


There are many global issues in Early Childhood . I am going to explore organizations and share early childhood issues that are concerning. I also will share ways in which these organizations supported theses issues with resources. For this week I decided to focus on Global Fund for Children

Part 1 - Expanding Horizons

Through Global Fund for Children (GFC) one issue is how the government, at one time, didn't recognize autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a credible condition worthy of support, diagnosis or treatment. A group named IRODA, made up of parents, advocated until a change came about and they were able to acquire funds through a grant to hire therapists to come work with children affected by the disorder. However they needed more money to train therapists and to have a larger facility with more resources. That is where GFC stepped in. GFC gave IRODA funds to pay for the training of therapist and collaborated with other agencies to train the staff of IRODA to help even more children worldwide.

In the fight for children rights, GFC stands by people who risk everything until they can stand by themselves. In Kenya there is a girl foundation called Samburu. This organization protects girls from child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). This organization has rescued over 1000 girls. The rescue center takes girls in and partners with boarding schools so that when the girl are ready they can pursue an education. The founder goes around the community and educate about the harmful practices and the importance of education to get their buy-in.  Eventually the girls are reconciled back into their own families instead of removing them. This is very important for the girls mental health and the Samburu organization (Global, 2018)

The Global Fund for Children intrigues me because each story that I studied I felt that the staff went above and beyond to help these organizations out. They traveled miles of unknown roads, fought and advocated until a result was produced. They were fully invested and they basically risked their own lives to do so. This is rare. I have total respect for GFC. 

Part 2 - Expanding Resources


The organization that I would like to know more about and visit is the Harlem Children's Zone. It is a national model for breaking the cycle of poverty founded by Geoffrey Canada. The Harlem Children's Zone aimed at providing comprehensive, critical support to children and families and reweaving the very fabric of community life. It started with serving 24 blocks of children and families addressing many issues like apartment crumbling, poor health, failing schools, high crime rates and crippling drug usage. The culture of the community was shifted by support and genuine care for people. The organization that I work for now, Baby Scholars, is inspired by the Harlem Children's Zone. We teach responsive parenting to parents that have children ages 5 months to 5 years old (The Harlem Children's Zone, n.d.)


References

Global Fund for Children. (2018, June 26). Moving girls from property to protection. Retrieved from

https://globalfundforchildren.org/

The Harlem Children’s Zone. (n.d.) History: The Beginning of the Harlem Children’s Zone. Retrieved from

https://hcz.org/about-us/history/