Childhood Stressors

At the young age of four, my mother ran across an alley. Because of the nearby hedges, neither she nor the driver could see what was just ahead. She was hit by the car, and drug across the alley. She nearly lost her leg, if it weren’t for one doctor who decided it could be repaired. Because of this, my mother lie in a bed in a hospital with her leg elevated for two long months. After these two months, she was then confined to her home for about one year, not being able to walk at all.

As a child, my mother experienced several stressors throughout this one traumatic experience. The one stressor that I chose to talk to her about, though, was her isolation from other children at this vital age where play is essential. She coped with this as best she could at such a young age. This is how she remembers coping:

· Since there was no true children’s wing, she was on the same floor as other patients. She remembers other male patients taking her with to watch old Western movies with them.

· Dolls. She was never really that into dolls, but she remembers receiving several dolls from people she knew. Her chair was full of them.

· To pass the time in the hospital room, my mom remembers feeling the hard stem of feathers in her pillow and plucking them out, one by one.

· She became in sync with her surroundings at the hospital. She began recognizing that the doctor was coming down the hallway based solely on the sound of his footsteps.

Although she doesn’t remember many specific details about the experience, she remembers the list above vividly. Unfortunately she attributes many of her health issues later in life back to this one experience.

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I decided to further research Ghana since this has been an country that I’ve been interested in for quite some time. The kinds of stressors that children from this country experience are poverty, malnutrition, HIV/AIDS infection, low water supply, and sanitation problems.

Unfortunately, the “Department of Children” or DoC of Ghana is not doing too much to prevent or help children with the above stressors. However, the government has appointed seven different ministries and agencies within the human resource sector to improve the above conditions as a whole ("Ghana: Global Study," 2009). These agencies are assisting by spreading information about the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Also, the government of Ghana has declared that the economy is growing, especially within the urban areas ("Ghana: Global Study," 2009). Because of this, they are attempting to create more transportation opportunities for families living in rural areas to get to the cities, where goods will be sold more inexpensively than in their areas . It is thought that with this simple change of transportation (as well as the improved economy), malnutrition, sanitation, and water supply will improve ("Ghana: Global Study," 2009).

Resources:

Ghana: Global study on child poverty and disparities. (2009, July). Unicef
[Report]. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/files/
Ghana_reportdesign_July2010.pdf