Sharing Web Resources

Week 2 is fully underway in the Issues and Trends course I am currently enrolled in. This week we were asked to examine closely the organization we chose to follow and learn more about. I had mentioned last week there were two organizations that had caught my eye but this week I would like to focus on the Save the Children Organization.

Save the Children is an organization created to help children worldwide survive the stressors of daily life they are facing and cannot control themselves. As stated on the website, "Save the children gives children in the United States and around the world what every child deserves - a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm, especially when disaster strikes. We advocate and achieve lasting change for millions of children. We save children's lives," (Save the Children, 2014). This organization's webpage has a multitude of resources and current events taking place around the world that impact children. It details the countries it works in, their goals and accomplishments, their campaigns, their programs, and much more. It provides current events and articles taking place throughout the world and allows people to connect and be involved via the website and social media institutions, such as Facebook and Twitter. The organization can be found at this website address: http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm.

While there are many issues taking place worldwide that are of grave concern for the well being of our children, there was one in particular that caught my eye and touched my heart in such a way I felt I had to share. In an article from the Save the Children Newsroom posted on December 13, 2013, they discuss how "the decline in education for Syrian children has been the sharpest and most rapid in the history of the region," (Uenuma, 2013, p. 1). Due to the warring state that Syria is currently in, children are unable to attend schools due to fear, physical inability to go due to buildings being destroyed or otherwise utilized, etc. Uenuma (2013) explains further how nearly 3 million children were forced to leave their education behind in the primary grades "as fighting has destroyed classrooms, left children too terrified to go to school, or seen families flee the country," (p. 1). Even more disheartening was reading that "between 500,000-600,000 Syrian refugee children are out of school," (Uenuma, 2013, p. 1). These poor children and families are living in fear for their lives, some even illegally crossing borders into neighboring countries to flee the bloodshed only to find they cannot be welcomed there due to overcrowding or tensions between regions. For an area within this region to have 97% attendance in 2011 to drop drastically to 6% is an astonishing fact. Uenuma (2013) explains, "Syria was a regional leader in education enrollment before the conflict, yet in less than three years the sharpest regression in education of anywhere in the region occurred with dire consequences for the future," (p. 1). Even for the families who are still remaining in Syria and dealing with the continuous bloodshed and strife their children are without education as parents are fearful to send them to school in such conditions with such events continuously taking place in their country and one cannot blame them. Uenuma (2013) speaks for the Save the Children and Unicef organizations listing ways action could be taken now to reverse this intense decline and slide downward, listing the following examples:

                    "- Protection of education infrastructure inside Syria - including ending the use of schools
                      for military purposes, declaring schools as zones of peace, and holding accountable those
                      parties to the conflict who violate the protection of schools.
                      - Doubling of international investment for education in host countries to expand and
                      improve learning spaces, recruit additional teachers and slash the costs of getting children
                      into classrooms.
                      - Innovative approaches to overcome education needs of Syrian refugee children through
                      such as transferrable certification for refugee students.
                      - Scaling up proven models such as home-based learning, non-formal learning centers
                      and child-friendly spaces that provide psychosocial support for children," (p. 1).

Ultimately, this article moved me to tears, fearful for the children and families in this region and thankful we do not face these circumstances on a daily basis here, but most importantly, left me wanting to find a way to help. By following and supporting this organization, making donations, or purchasing gifts for children around the world to help their specific needs and struggles, I can help to make a difference in the health, education, and life of these children. So can you. Please take the time to peruse the Save the Children organization's website. I promise you will feel the same passion as I did, left wanting to make a difference and treasure the precious moments we spend safely here with our children we are lucky enough to work with. Then again, maybe it is just me. I am a big time softy and have a huge heart, which can be a blessing and a curse; regardless, I know to follow my heart when it is the right thing to do and I hope you would too. :)

Until next week….

-A


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References:

Save the Children Federation, Inc. (2014). Save the Children. Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm.

Uenuma, F. (13 December 2013). Decline in education for Syrian children "worst and fastest in region's history. Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=8rKLIXMGIpI4E&b=8486803&ct=13500437.