Initially I was contacted by Cheryl Anderson stating
that she would love to help me. Cheryl is the Director of a not-for
profit community based Child Care Centre in Gray, which is the Northern Territory
of Australia.
At this time I have not received a reply to any additional
communications. Understanding that being in a very demanding position, priorities
are important and it is possible that she has not had the time to respond.
I have moved forward with researching the area in which
she services with hopes of hearing from here soon. If no word from my
professional contact by Monday of next week I will move on to option B.
A poverty report completed by (ACOSS)
Australia Council of Social Services, which was last published in October 2010
shows that approximately
2.2 million people, or 11% of Australians lived in poverty in 2006 – the latest
date for which statistics are available ‐ compared with
10% in 2004 and 8% in 1994.
Australian children ‐
over 500,000 – in 2006 lived in households with equivalent income less than 50
percent of the median.
Some additional information that I located was the
life expectancy of children. Australia is divided by Indigenous and Non Indigenous.
Approximately 83 percent of Indigenous deaths below age 5 occur within the
first year of life and, of these, nearly half occur within the first month. Infant
mortality for Indigenous infants in the 2002‑06 period was 12.3 deaths per 1000
live births, compared with 4.2 deaths for non‑Indigenous infants (Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare 2008).
Indigenous children currently experience much poorer
outcomes than non-Indigenous children, with high levels of disadvantage in
early childhood associated with poorer outcomes in health and education.
I found this information about Australia to be very
interesting. It has broadened my understanding of the affects that poverty has
on other parts of the world.
Reference
http://www.facs.gov.au/sa/indigenous/pubs/general/Documents/closing_the_gap/p2.htm
Wow! It is very sobering to think that children all over the world are suffering. I am curious to know the statistics for the non-Indigenous. Why the disparity? Thanks for opening our eyes to what is happening down under!
ReplyDeleteWow, I cannot imagine losing a child before the age 5 nor an infant at one month of age. The Indigenous families and children seem to suffer more. I am wondering with this group suffers more. Do they have the same rights as others?
DeleteWow that's great that you got any response at all, hopefully she will still contact you for your personal growth.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the others, it's eye opening to find out such details about children all over the world, we tend to only think about what in front of us.