In 2005 Hurricane Katrina swept
through New Orleans, Louisiana and affected many of the surrounding states in
the U.S.A. Consequently, members of my
family were directly affected by this natural disaster. Many people would describe hurricane Katrina as
“living nightmare”. Although forecast as a severe threat, no one, I knew could
really fathom the devastation that would occur as a result. My cousin, Mike Scott, and his family were directly
affected by the natural disaster. My cousin was 7 years old at the time. The hurricane forced my cousin and his family
to relocate. They lost their house, cars, and many of their personal possession.
The services that assisted my cousin and his family during their transition
came from the American Red cross, FEMA and the Washington, DC school district (where
Mike and his family relocated). He was able to enroll in his appropriate grade
level and was offered in school therapy sessions and a mentor. My mother would tell me after having conversation
with Mike’s mother, (Aunt Pat) that Mike was starting to wet the bed again and
that he would wake up in the middle of the night crying. For a short period of
time before moving to Washington, DC Mike and his family lived in a shelter staff
by the American Redcross, this was a very difficult experience for my cousin
Mike to adjust to. Mike was born and raised in New Orleans, LA and did wasn’t
really aware to the extent of his parents how devastating hurricane Katrina was
to the community at large. Once Mike adapted to his new home, school and
supportive services, he began to flourish and is now performing at a higher
level of that of his peers academically. His transition wasn’t smooth; nonetheless,
he was able to cope with the change and was able to obtain the necessary
support from, family members, friends, school teachers and governmental resources.
In the article, Child Labour among Working Children in Ogun
State, Nigeria, by Akinola Dosunmu and Babajide Abidogun, the authors
highlight how poverty is one of the main contributing factors in regards to children
being forces to entire the workforce. Children
in Nigeria with poor parental background often engage in working instead of continuing
school. Consequently, working children are then latter offer low paying jobs,
which inevitable fosters the cycle of poverty. Many children and their families
are homeless in Nigeria. Therefore children enter the workforce as a part of survival
and employers find that child labor very attractive, because they are able to
pay them substantially less than an adult, (Dosunmu &Abidogun , 2011). Dosunmu
and Abidogun, (2011) recommend that “parent should be recommended of the
adverse effects of child labor and that The
government should by providing a favorable economic environment for Nigeria
because it has been identified that poverty is the cause of child labor in
developing countries (Nigeria inclusive),” (Dosunmu &Abidogun , 2011). Dosunmu
and Abidogun, (2011) survey/research concluded that the majority of child
workers do not want to enter the workforce, but feel obligated to in order to
help supplement their family’s income. Although poverty is an endless issue in
Nigeria, the Unites of America and around the world, I find that it is most
vital for authors like Dosunmu and Abidogun to create awareness on the poverty epidemic
crisis to the general public and politicians/world leaders in order to generate
movement towards decreasing the effects of poverty on children in general. It
is evident that the effects of poverty certainly trickle down to younger
generations and play a role to the development of children and the field.
References:
Dosunmu, A. and Abidogun, B., (2011) Child Labour among
Working Children in Ogun State, Nigeri. European
Journal of Social Science, (25)3, p411-417, 7p, 2 Charts. Retrieved July 21, 2012, from Academic Search
Complete.
