Question: Think of the children in a community that you are familiar with. Have you seen the ideas about what constitutes a 'good childhood' for these children changing over time? Can you briefly share an example of the sorts of changes in expectations and aspirations you have witnessed and make a link to right(s) that might have been a factor in this change?
The children of the community Kyababeezi in Central-West Uganda are not unlike children all over the world, whose resilience has astounded me. In my five years of working with them I have been privileged to watch infants become self-aware toddlers, and young children blossom into secondary-school attendees (where available). So many of these children’s’ problems seem to be due to chronic poverty – a recurring cycle of poverty that crosses generational lines. Most of the time, the children have inherited communicable diseases through birth, domestic and community responsibilities and community-wide struggles. Because childhood itself is a cultural concept and isn’t as easily defined as the CRC describes (“any human under 18”), the ideas of how to make that childhood a “good” one vary. Instinctively, a good childhood is one that keeps a child safe from harm, however in our present day society, we can’t overlook the fact that children’s safety is continually being challenged, no matter which developed or developing country they are raised in. Getting a bit tangental, I’ll try to get back to my original point here! Sorry guys and ladies!
What I have seen change is a move from “survival mode” to “living”. As money and organization has poured into the community, children’s immediate needs (shelter, food, water and indeed their sense of security) have been met. Their pursuit of education, even at a primary level, has opened their eyes to a bigger world than ever before imagined. Indeed, the children are now able to shift from a sense of immediacy to a more sustainable approach in their thinking and their actions. Supplying children and their families with a sense of security – be it through education or finance or any other resource – has given the family the ability to trust their children will be safe, and thus allowed the children to live more freely, more like children.
The recognition of their rights to not only survive, but to also enjoy their lives has absolutely helped the community to flourish. If, on a micro-level, a Human Development Index, taking into consideration the factor of happiness and hopefulness, had been conducted five years ago and again today, there would undoubtedly be a change in the results. There’d be optimism.
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