Getting to know your International Contacts - Part 2

Since I have not received a response from any international contacts I explored the Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/) and was able to learn new and valuable information.This week three new ideas or insights I gained about early childhood systems around the globe. 

1.

Zambian Early Childhood Development Project

While a large number of studies have investigated the impact of early childhood experiences on children’s developmental, health, and educational outcomes in developed countries, relatively little evidence is available on early childhood development in sub-Saharan Africa. To address this knowledge gap, the Zambian Ministry of Education, the Examination Council of Zambia, UNICEF, the University of Zambia, and the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University launched the Zambian Early Childhood Development Project (ZECDP) in 2009, a collaborative effort to measure the effects of an ongoing anti-malaria initiative on children’s development in Zambia.

2.

Studying the Effects of Global Adversity, Two Generations at a Time

When humanitarian crises hit around the world, nongovernmental organizations rush into the fray, intensively focused on urgent survival needs, not necessarily on longer-term impacts that may take an even greater toll on the country and its citizens. Theresa Betancourt, a Center-affiliated faculty member who studies children in adversity and has worked alongside NGOs, wants to help them see that farther horizon: Combining short-term survival efforts with attention to children’s developmental needs only magnifies the long-range benefits for individuals and societies.

3.

Applying the Science of Early Childhood in Brazil

As part of its Global Children’s Initiative, the Center is launching Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância, its first major programmatic effort outside the United States. In collaboration with local experts, the project aims to use the science of child health and development to guide stronger policies and larger investments to benefit young children and their families in Brazil.

On this website there is also information about applying the science of early childhood in Brazil. After a leadership course on child development, many politicians, policymakers, public managers, and civil society leaders came together to plan a better future for children in a country experiencing rapid economic growth and wide societal disparities. Since the Brazilian government is in the process of preparing a national plan for early child development a pediatrician who studies child health took a trip to Boston to visit Harvard University to learn more about the scientific evidence on child development. Brazil sees the impact of how early experiences set the foundation for lifelong health, learning, and behavior.

This week i learned that we have a lot to be grateful for, we are very fortunate. I hear people complain all the time and i think to myself, "if they only know what children in other countries really go through." I enjoyed this week and look forward to next week.