Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
The Story Of The African Child.
I will like to define Africa as a continent wherein the generality of children live under conditions which are neither comfortable nor sanitary and these children do not have access to their daily nutritional or dietary needs. I define Africa in this way because I believe a country/ continent or people are judged by their youth.
In Africa certain comforts that the developed world has taken for granted remain a luxury reserved only for the very rich.Let me skip the horrible story of the general inaccessibility to ante-natal care and high rates of maternal and infant mortality to the part of the story that focuses on those children who do make it to the world alive and healthy.
In recent times, a lot of focus has been on the need for the mothers to breastfeed as breast milk has been found to be better than formula milk. The average mother here in Africa cannot afford to effectively do this because she cannot afford to eat in order to meet up to the demands of lactation. So what does she do? She breastfeeds her child alright but subconsciously or otherwise reduces his eating times or the length of it. This is so she does not feel weak and faint beyond what she can bear. The baby in turn adapts to its mother's regime. But what does this mean for the baby? It does not receive as much of the essential nutrients it requires; this affects his growth, his immunity and he spends more time crying than he really should.
Due to the poor sanitary conditions, a lot of children become sick, and die prematurely due to non access and other times inability to afford medical attention.Being a tropical continent, Africa is blessed (?) with warm weather and sometimes it becomes really hot and uncomfortable. Remember there generally is epileptic supply of power (where there is), hence no air-conditioning. At times when it is really hot the young are worst hit. They break out with heat rashes and other attendant complications including chicken pox, cerebrospinal meningitis etc. Obviously such children sleep little, cry a lot, grow slowly and are in essence unhappy.
The story of the African child is a very long one. I can't tell it all. But try I will in the hope that someone somewhere is listening / reading and is able to change things so the story has a happy end.
In Africa certain comforts that the developed world has taken for granted remain a luxury reserved only for the very rich.Let me skip the horrible story of the general inaccessibility to ante-natal care and high rates of maternal and infant mortality to the part of the story that focuses on those children who do make it to the world alive and healthy.
In recent times, a lot of focus has been on the need for the mothers to breastfeed as breast milk has been found to be better than formula milk. The average mother here in Africa cannot afford to effectively do this because she cannot afford to eat in order to meet up to the demands of lactation. So what does she do? She breastfeeds her child alright but subconsciously or otherwise reduces his eating times or the length of it. This is so she does not feel weak and faint beyond what she can bear. The baby in turn adapts to its mother's regime. But what does this mean for the baby? It does not receive as much of the essential nutrients it requires; this affects his growth, his immunity and he spends more time crying than he really should.
Due to the poor sanitary conditions, a lot of children become sick, and die prematurely due to non access and other times inability to afford medical attention.Being a tropical continent, Africa is blessed (?) with warm weather and sometimes it becomes really hot and uncomfortable. Remember there generally is epileptic supply of power (where there is), hence no air-conditioning. At times when it is really hot the young are worst hit. They break out with heat rashes and other attendant complications including chicken pox, cerebrospinal meningitis etc. Obviously such children sleep little, cry a lot, grow slowly and are in essence unhappy.
The story of the African child is a very long one. I can't tell it all. But try I will in the hope that someone somewhere is listening / reading and is able to change things so the story has a happy end.
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