Getting to know my international contact-part 1

I was very excited and happy to hear from Maya Ajmera from Podcast of Global Fund for Children. She is the founder of GFC. The Global Fund for Children is a nonprofit organization that invests philanthropic capital in innovative community-based organizations working with some of the world’s most vulnerable children and youth (Wikipedia). She offered to talk with me for 15 minutes but sadly due to my work schedule, I didn’t get the opportunity to speak with her. However, we exchanged emails and she sent me one of her paper that she published on Young Children, on November 2010 issue. She suggested this article is critical for my field and I also found some information that are related to this week topic on poverty and its impact on early childhood and families.

GFC makes small grants to innovative community based organizations that serve children and young people who are among the world’s poorest (Ajmera, Modica & Dunning, 2010). According to Global Studies of Early Childhood Programs, there are many important characteristics of successful interventions. However incorporating these elements can be challenging in developing countries with limited resources, particularly serving children from families of low socioeconomics status (Ajmera, Modica & Dunning, 2010).

There are many non-profits national and international organizations that help children and families from poor communities. The Monduli Pastoralist Development Initiative (MPDI) has worked since 2004 to help Massai communities of Tanzania and Kenya maintain their beliefs and systems while ensuring that children receive a modern education (Ajmera, Modica & Dunning, 2010). It is also my personal concern when incorporating modern educational system because I also feel that when learning from technologies and other modern systems, we tends to diminish the traditional education, which are so important in many ways. At the same time, I also understand that we need to move with the time and apply the best approach when it comes to educating our children.

These are some important information that I learned from the article that Maya Ajmera shared with me. If you would like the name of the article is, "Meeting Children Where They Are: Children adapted models of early childhood education" by Modica S, Ajmera M, & Dunning V. 

The issue of poverty is prevalent not only in developing and under-developed countries, but also in the powerful and rich countries like the United State of America. According to Dr. Grace, 2010, poverty exists in urban and many parts of rural America (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). “The recent census information shows that we have about the highest percentage of children in poverty that we’ve had in the last 20 years, and that the children remain, in our population in the United States, the greatest percentage of people in poverty” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).

References

Luareate Education, Inc. (November, 2010). “The Effects of Poverty on the Early Childhood Community.

Modica, S, Ajmera, M, & Dunning, V. (2010). Meeting Children Where They Are: Children adapted models of early childhood education. Young Children. Retrieved from https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/maya%40mayaajmera.com/145f23d8b4bf3ef6?projector=1