Ten women prepare themselves: hair, makeup, clothes, and posture. They practice proper cadence for scripted answers to questions they will soon be asked. Each of them will say she arrived in Lima from an Andean town seeking a brighter future for her two children. Her partner is returning after being away for six months for work, and they do not want to have any more … [Read more...] about Indigenous and mestizo women: do they receive different treatment in family planning centers in Peru?
Habitat program: closing gaps in Mexico’s formal neighborhoods
Imagine living in a neighborhood where some families have water and others don’t. Where half the streets are paved, and only some have sidewalks. Where street lighting exists only in certain areas, making it dangerous to return home at night or go out before dawn. Or where you have to walk very far to find a park, a football field, a health clinic, or a day-care … [Read more...] about Habitat program: closing gaps in Mexico’s formal neighborhoods
The Juana Azurduy Voucher Program: health services for mothers and their children
“I didn’t go to the health center because it took a long time, and on top of that they treated me badly,” recounted a Quechua woman in the town of Oruro, Bolivia. “We have our own customs for childbirth”. She is not alone in those views. According to a recent national survey, the main reason why women avoid prenatal care is distrust of health personnel (26 percent). … [Read more...] about The Juana Azurduy Voucher Program: health services for mothers and their children
How important math is in preschool
As part of a lesson on quantities, a group of five-year-olds in Huancavelica, Peru, was asked, “If you have three candies and I have six, what is that?” The expected answer was something along the lines of “more” or “less,” but after a moment of contemplation, a student responded, “Unfair.” These preschoolers are part of a new bilingual preschool program called Mimate … [Read more...] about How important math is in preschool
Cerrando Brechas: good teachers matter for kindergarten success
What makes a teacher a good teacher? Although teachers are mostly selected according to what is showcased in their curriculum vitae, those credentials are not what matters most, according to Cerrando Brechas (Closing Gaps), a multi-year study to measure the effects of better teachers on child learning in the first years of elementary school carried out by the government of … [Read more...] about Cerrando Brechas: good teachers matter for kindergarten success