Natural Disaster Experience

The stressor I chose is Natural Disaster. The natural disaster that affected many family and friends is Katrina. 

Katrina Hit Mississippi and tore the state apart. There were so many casualties and those that did survive were affected emotionally, spiritually, mentally and financially. To this day Katrina has affects on so many people. Living here in Mississippi I have heard many stories of survival and death and hearing these stories even from my own family makes it so hard to believe how anyone survived that storm and even the aftermath. 

My nieces were 5 years old when Katrina hit Biloxi Ms. My sister and her family chose to evacuate before the storm hit so they were in a safe place. What they were not prepared for was coming back home or to what use to be their home. There wasn't much of a home left for them. Their car was under water and their house was almost under water too. When my nieces saw their home the cried because they were scared, didn't understand what was going on and all of their toys beds pictures ect. were gone, destroyed. It was an emotional roller coaster for the whole family. Within a matter of a couple of weeks they had to prepare to take the little that was left to salvage and get ready to move to another state because they were told by the military they could no longer live here. My nieces took a little while to adjust. They went through a mix of emotions still trying to understand what happened. They cried a lot and they began to act out. My sister and her husband had to talk to my nieces everyday helping them understand what happened and why they moved and to remind them that they were safe and were going to be okay. 

     Another story is from  a good friend who I consider an Aunt. Her sister lived in New Orleans and their house was getting flooded. They had no choice but to get up on the roof outside the house. It was the mother and her 4 young children. One child fell into the water everyone else panicked and got scared seeing the water rise. They all jumped in except for one daughter who was 11 years old. No one survived. The mother and children drowned and the 11 yr old was the only one who made it. The death or her family and the traumatic experience affected the young girl so much that even today she struggles. She could not cope with the pain and chose drugs to help her pain. She is still struggling today with drugs and does not allow anyone close to her. 

     The country I choose is Mexico. I chose this country because where I grew up in Texas the border was only about 20 min away. Today it is being overtaken by drug cartels. I'm sure everyone has heard on the news about families and children alone fleeing into the United States trying to get away from the violence there. My brother who works in customs has seen children as young as 5 coming across the border alone. Their parents and sending them with strangers hoping they make it across to the United States for a better, safer life. The type of stress these children in Mexico face is fear, anxiety, hunger. Drug Cartels are taken over and killing people for no reason. The children and families were being allowed to come into the United States for safe haven at one time. I would like to do some extensive research to find out what else is being done and what happen to those families and children who were allowed into the US. 

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Child Development and Public Health

The topic I chose is Nutrition/Malnutrition. I chose this topic because I believe nutrition is essential in a child growth and development. I think nutrition should be taken more serious than what it is. I believe every child should have access to food and should never go hungry. I think our government should have more programs available to parents to ensure that children do not go hungry. In working with children for so long I have seen too many cases where children and not given the proper nutrition or have gone days with eating little to nothing. It is heartbreaking to see a child hungry at no fault of theirs. Especially the younger ones who can't speak or defend themselves. 

Malnutrition at an early age leads to reduced physical and mental development during childhood. Stunting, for example, affects more than 147 million pre-schoolers in developing countries, according to SCN's World Nutrition Situation 5th report. Iodine deficiency, the same report shows, is the world's greatest single cause of mental retardation and brain damage.

I researched Japan because I lived there for four years. Japan is one of the healthies countries. It is not common to see someone overweight. So there is not a malnutrition problem but I chose this country because I think the United States and other countries could follow in thier footsteps to help reduce hunger and the obesity problem our country has with our children. Good nutritions begins at an early age and when children go to school it continues. Fresh meals are cooked and served. Nothing is frozed or premade. Children get a variety of fruits and veggies and exercise is part of their curriculum.  Japan has fields almost anywhere you go where the locals grow vegtable and fruits and these are used in the schools for meals as well. 

In the United States meals that are served at school are sometimes the only meals a child get during the day and I think it should be a priority for our schools to make and serve fresh healthy meals. As for the future, I have become are part of a group that is supports and is fighting to bring back into our schools healthy meals. 

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BIRTHING EXPERIENCES

The birthing experiences I have are the ones of my own two children and one of a close friend.

I remember when I found out I was pregnant with my first child. It was an exciting and nervous time for me. I knew at a young age I wanted children so I was ecstatic to be pregnant. I loved every moment of being pregnant except for the morning sickness. The ultrasounds, doctors visits, hearing the heart beat and especially when I began to feel her move and kick. She kept me up at night sometimes but what a miracle and such an amazing feeling. My husband and I heard all the stories of labor and delivery pains but I wanted to be brave and wanted to feel and experience EVERYTHING so I chose to have a natural birth with no pain killers! Yikes. It wasn't very long into my labor that I was screaming for the epidural but by this time it was too late. I had to go on with no meds. Labor was 7 hours and about 45 min to push her out. It was  a painful experience but I wouldn't change it for the world. I learn my lesson and was no longer brave and curious with my second child. I made sure to ask over and over again for the epidural as soon as I could have it. 

Two very close friends of mine had children at a young age. One was 16 years old and the other was 20. Although I was not there for the birth I was there just a few days later. I was able to help them figure out diaper changes, feedings, helped comfort the baby and gave one of the babies her first bath because her mom was terrified she would drop her. That first bath was an experience I will always remember. The child I bathed is now in her twenties and just got married. I chose this experience to share because it was meaningful to me and I still share the story with my her, her mother and my kids.

The country I chose is Okinawa Japan. This country is rich in culture and they follow old customes. Women in Japan typically do not take any sort of pain killers during labor. Their belief is that labor and delivery is a time for mother and child to bond. They also believe the medications could harm the child or bring on complications. I related to this custom with my first child. I felt I wanted to experience the birth and labor so that I could bond with my child. Women in Japan typically stay in the hospital longer after birth. Four to ten days and this time is for mother to rest, heal and to be pampered.