I never thought that my experience reaching
out internationally would be so difficult yet rewarding all at the same
time. Although I never had a “pen pal”
as a child, I can now imagine the anticipation of waiting for the next
letter. I check my email and message
center feverishly in hopes of more information.
This week had some highs and lows.
I did finally receive a brief response from my contact in Puerto Rico
regarding poverty struggles, and managed to make two new connections, which
added two more countries to the mix. I
have now made contact with representatives of Puerto Rico, Australia,
Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, Scotland, and two other American women who have
seen great success in the field.
Unfortunately, it is not always easy getting a fluent conversation going
across the miles.
While I still hope to get responses from those
I reached out to, I will share a few tidbits of what previous responses have
offered me.
In Puerto Rico, my contact reiterated that
conditions are bleak for many of their residents. Their struggle lies furthermore, in the fact
that due to they are a territory of the United States their representation is
different. Global agencies working with
the US do not always consider the unique needs of Puerto Rico or even provide
services to them because of their status.
While they do receive some federal and local governmental support, they
must also rely heavily on citizen driven, non-profit, volunteer workforces or
NGO’s (non-governmental organizations).
In Australia, my contact wholeheartedly
believes in the ELYF (Early Learning Years Framework) under which they
currently operate, but fears the day that big business and political concerns
overshadow the field resulting in big changes.
Due to their ELYF implementation , they were able to reduce teacher:
child ratios and prioritize early care quality over profits. She inferred that if the government there
ever removed the current system in favor of one that took away some of the
beneficial, family/child oriented policies, that would be the day that she
closed her doors for good and walked away.
While I can guess from her passion that this would not actually be the
case, I can relate to her frustration and comforted a bit by the fact that we
share many of the same struggles.
Dana,
ReplyDeleteThe information about Puerto Rico was very interesting. I guess I always assumed that the education system would receive the full support of the U.S. government. I have known many families from Puerto Rico through their affiliation with military and see how proud they are of America. I would hope the early childhood field could find some strong advocates that would push for more support for the Puerto Rican education system.
Thank you for sharing,
Tanya
Hi Dana, WOW, what of list of pen pals you have! Even though you have made a great list of connections, it is still challenging to keep the networking a constant. I made connections, but one of my connections is away on holidays, so I was unable to receive a response from her.
ReplyDeleteYou were able to find out some great information on the challenges that Puerto Rico face. I am sure that the funding that they receive from the federal and local government is quite low. It must be very hard to rely on non-profits organizations and volunteers for most of their support. Did they indicate how they overcome some of the challenges they face?
What a difference between the information you received from your two contacts that come from two very different parts of the world. There is so much inconsistency within countries and when we think about, these differences are effecting the most important people.....the children!!
Thank you for sharing!
Take care,
Stephanie
Hi Dana,
ReplyDeleteIt appears lack of funding in early childhood initiatives/programs is the current issue across the globe. Partially due to families at or below the poverty line. Although there are efforts to expand the early childhood programs we as a nation have a long way to go.