Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

I listen to the podcast this week on

Episode 3: Delfena Mitchell

Delfena Mitchell is Director of the Liberty Children’s Home, on the outskirts of Belize City. This program opened in the summer of 2005 and is licensed to house up to 40 children, predominantly between birth to 5 years of age. However, older children who have younger siblings in care are and will always be accommodated.

All of the children at the care center have been abandoned, abused or orphaned and many have disabilities, special needs or are HIV positive. Further information on this program is available at www.libertyfoundation.org.uk.

This week podcast hit home because in my city there is not children's home, and I was at a store and met this young lady who said she was homeless and had been abused and I asked her if she need someone to talk to and I gave her my address. She came to my home and I gave her a meal and a place to stay for the night. I so fortunate to read about people who do deeds for others. 

For the alternative for this assignment allowed me to learn about  The Center's Global Children’s Initiative has begun to build a portfolio of activities in three domains: early childhood development; mental health; and children in crisis and conflict situations.

Early Childhood Development

The first priority in this area is to learn the successful work the Center has conducted in the United States for a broader range of strategically selected audiences, in an effort to energize and reframe the global dialogue around investments in the earliest years of life.

Child Mental Health

Mental health concerns is addressed issue that has significant implications for the broader health and development of children and societies. There is an urgent need to identify the scope of the problem within and across countries and to develop evidence-based approaches in policy and service delivery that are responsive to diverse cultural contexts. To respond to this challenge, a working group of Harvard faculty is developing a focused agenda in research, education, and public engagement to address significant gaps in knowledge and service delivery.

Children and Crisis 

The goal of this effort is to foster interdisciplinary collaboration that incorporates a science-based, developmental perspective into the assessment and management of child well-being in a range of natural and man-made crises, focusing on both immediate circumstances and long-term adaptation. Two issues are the initial focus of activity in this domain:

• Exploring comparable approaches to surveying child status in post-earthquake Haiti and Chile.
• Bringing the science of child development into strategies for addressing acute malnutrition.

This week assignment allowed me to learn more about the equities of early childhood education and it helped me understand that there global countries that have a focus on quality early childhood education. After listening to the podcast I learn that there are a number of professionals who are as passionate as I am about the field. I look forward to learning and hearing from my international contact.