Getting to know your International Contacts-Part 2-Alternative Option

This week I decided to explore one of the alternatives for our blog assignment since I had not heard from my contacts this week.  The Harvard University Global Children’s Initiative Website interested me.  The Global Children’s Initiative works collaboratively with other disciplines to advance the health and development of all children.  Through educating decision-makers in the field of early childhood, to expanding global understanding of healthy development for children, and by increasing the number of voices for children around the world, the Global Children’s Initiative works to meet the needs of all children.   It is great to read of the efforts of others in working to improve the well-being of children in other parts of the world.

Efforts in Brazil:

One major project is in Brazil where the Global Children’s Initiative Center aims to “use the science of child health and development” in order to create stronger policies and larger investments for children and families in Brazil (Global Children’s Initiative, 2011).  The center is working with scholars, policymakers, and leaders to help foster a more “prosperous, sustainable, and equitable society” (Global Children’s Initiative, 2011).   They have outlined many goals to help build and strengthen early childhood in Brazil.  They also aim to create resources for Brazil. 

As a result, they have created a video entitled “Super-Cerebro” (a Portuguese Translation of Brain Hero) that helps illustrate the roadblocks that can affect children’s development. The Brain Hero video clip can be viewed at http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/resources/multimedia/videos/brain_hero/.  The video is three minutes in length and is an excellent, visually appealing video.  I think the video is well worth watching. 

Efforts in Chile:

The Global Children’s Initiative work is evident in Chile as well.   “Un Buen Comienzo (UBC), “A Good Start,” is a collaborative project in Santiago, Chile, to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development” (Global Children’s Initiative, 2011).  The focus is on improving the quality of educational choices for four to six year olds with an emphasis on language development, school attendance, social -emotional development and parent involvement.  There are many involved in the efforts to improve early childhood education in Chile.

Zambia

The efforts of Gunther Fink, a health economist, in his research project has been studying the ongoing anti-malaria initiative in Zambia (Creating a New Measure of Child Development, 2011).  Malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality with 50, 000 deaths per year. More astonishing is that malaria causes one quarter of childhood deaths for children under five (as well as HIV) (Creating a New Measure of Child Development, 2011).  The anti-malaria initiative has had a significant impact on children’s health with a reduction in the number of deaths.   I found the work of Fink to be interesting.  In conjunction with another colleague, Fink was interested in how to measure aspects of children’s development and worked to create a new instrument of measurement.  Fink started using the new tool in 2010 which will allow Fink to make comparisons within Zambia, and other regions.