The Need is Real

"Desperation, when allowed to fester, begets violence, ethnic strife, terrorism, international crime, and the forced displacement of people."     – Madeleine K. Albright

Millions of children worldwide are marginalized by poverty, ethnicity, and violence. Some children are ill or struggling with special needs, making them particularly vulnerable to abuse and abandonment. Hundreds of thousands of children spend their lives living in orphanages or on the street, while the youngest and most defenseless are at risk of abandonment, abuse in a multitude of forms, and institutionalization. Worldwide, 53,000 children die annually as a result of homicide and 1 million are forced into prostitution and child pornography. Millions of children are hungry and hopeless. There are few safety nets to help vulnerable children in developing countries.

Every minute in America a child is reported abused or neglected. One in ten is born affected by drugs. One in five is sexually abused. Half a million children are reported abused in California each year. Every day in California at least one child dies as a result of abuse or neglect. Hearts are broken with each death, hopes are destroyed and the promise of a future is lost forever.

Why should we care?

We share the underlying belief that all children count, no matter where they live. We live in the richest, most powerful nation in the world. We cannot turn away from the weakest and most vulnerable among us, our children.

Guatemala

Guatemala’s high birth rate and violent history over the past 40+ years have left tens of thousand s of children and families vulnerable to exploitation. There is an absence of social services and extremely limited options for alternative family care for children deprived of parental care.

• 50% of under-18 population (around 3.7 million girls, boys and adolescents) lives in poverty
  
• The situation is dramatically worse among children in rural areas and indigenous children and adolescents where 76% and 80% respectively lives in poverty.
  
• Nearly 23% of children over three months and under five months of age suffered from general malnutrition and almost ½ suffered from chronic malnutrition in 2006.
  
• Scarce financial resources for household expenses and the resulting child labor are some of the main reasons why girls and boys do not move forward in their educational path and cannot break the cycle of poverty in the future.
  
• 23% of children and young people between 7 and 16 were part of the country’s labor force.

Source: www.unicef.org/infobycountry/guatemala.html?q=printme

Romania

Romanian children and families still suffer today from the legacy of Communist dictator Nikolai Ceausescu’s harsh rule. Although the majority of the infamous orphanages established during the Communist regime have been shut down, Romania’s child welfare system is extremely limited in its willingness and ability to provide effective prevention services, leaving tens of thousands of children vulnerable to abuse, neglect and abandonment.

• The adjusted maternal-mortality ratio of 49 per 100,000 live births is high. Abortion-related deaths account for a large proportion of these deaths; Romania’s abortion rate is five times higher than rates in western European countries. Abandonment by mothers is a continuing problem.
  
• Poverty and poor food fortification contribute to malnutrition.
  
• Although HIV/AIDS incidence is low, it is concentrated largely in children infected between 1986 and 1991. But the situation could change drastically over the next few years as those teenagers become sexually active, because the level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS transmission and about public health is poor.
  
• More than 80,000 children live in institutions or substitute families, deprived of parental care.
  
• The understaffed education system is in need of resources and modernization. Roma children face challenges in participating in education.

Source: www.unicef.org/infobycountry/romania_background.html?q=printme

Childhood Abuse and Subsequent Adult Diseases

In a Centers for Disease Control sponsored study, Drs. Anda and Felliti discovered a strong correlation between childhood abuse and subsequent adult diseases including diabetes, obesity, depression, hepatitis, alcoholism, heart disease, fractures and suicide. For people who experienced four or more types of adverse childhood experiences, such as child abuse, the likelihood is increased by:

• 1220% that they will attempt suicide
  
• 1030% that they will be injection drug users
  
• 740% that they will be alcoholics
  
• 220% that they will smoke
  
• 160% that they will be severely obese

Abuse Leads to Addiction*

• A male child who has six types of adverse childhood experiences is 4600% more likely to become an injection drug user
  
• 78% of drug addiction in women can be attributed to adverse childhood experiences
  
• “…the major factor underlying addiction is adverse childhood experiences…”
  
  *Source: “The Origins of Addiction: Evidence from The
  Adverse Childhood Experiences Study,” Vincent Felitti, MD