By Priya Anaokar In developing countries, at least 219 million children under the age of 5 fail to reach their cognitive and socio-emotional potential because of poverty, poor health and nutrition, and non-stimulating care, as reported by the Global Child Development Group (GCDG) … [Read more...] about A better start is needed
Today´s Oliver Twist
By Charles A. Nelson Have you heard about this poor boy Oliver Twist who endured a miserable existence in a child institution in the early 19th century and decided to escape to lead a better life? Well, it’s just a story the famous author Charles Dickens wrote in 1838, but child institutions are more than just a story. For many children they are a reality they have to … [Read more...] about Today´s Oliver Twist
Little Scientists
By Samuel Berlinski It is undisputed that children, from birth to the start of formal schooling, need to be stimulated in order to develop their motor, socio-emotional and cognitive skills. But how should preschool-age children be cognitively stimulated? And at the same time, how structured should that experience be? … [Read more...] about Little Scientists
Teen Mothers
I find myself working on the outskirts of the city of Lima. No matter where I look, all I see is a sea of fragile little houses covering the dry hills. In the distance, I hear dogs barking, and I watch a group of children kicking around a ball, enveloped in a cloud of dust. From inside of one of these tiny houses, I hear the voice of a mother as she scolds her son and, a moment … [Read more...] about Teen Mothers
No Water, No Handwashing?
By Diana Pinto Picture a typical handwashing scene at a day care center in a developing country. A class of roughly 15 children lines up to use the sink; however, water only flows from the tap some of the time or the sink doesn’t work at all, so water must be fetched in containers from a faraway tank. … [Read more...] about No Water, No Handwashing?