Consequences of Stress

Consequences of Stress

My paternal grandmother use to tell us about what is was like to live in the South (Georgia) during a time when blacks were not welcomed  in schools, restaurants and doctor’s offices. This is only a small list of where they were not allowed, they were shunned from areas where whites were free to go. She said that because of her  race, she had to use back doors and go to certain doctors and even then, she had to go on certain days and times, that was hard for her to do with raising eight children, because as we all know, children don’t get sick all at once, so there were times when one of her children were sick and she had to wait until that certain day to take them to the doctors. She always told us that the south was a tough place to live and raise children, especially if you were black. She tried the best she knew how to protect her children from the racism and discrimination that she experienced; however, they had their individual share of it as they began school. They were teased because of the color of their skin and often they had to use certain bathrooms and drink from a certain water fountain because the white students had priority. Racism is a stressor that NO CHILD should have to experience as it can and does leave lasting impression .It can make a child grow up with a the knowledge that they’re not good enough to eat learn or get treated the way they see white children   being treated. Childhood should be a carefree time of fun and excitement and making lasting friendship. It should not be a stressful time or a time of worrying about how someone is scaring you or your family because of the color of your skin.  

The country I chose to find out more about is the country I was born and raised in, that is Panama. Food for the Poor began working in Panama in 2010. The organization has four projects underway in the country. Working through partners like Nuteje, the charity has made education, agriculture and water projects its priority. I wish I could say I was surprised to learn that Colon, the city I grew up in is the nation's second largest city; however, it has the highest rates of poverty and crime in Panama. Poverty in Panama tends to be concentrated in specific geographic regions. For instance, the nation's second largest city, I can remember playing in those same streets, but back then they did not seem dangerous. Although poverty is still to this day a problem in Colon, I believe that since the American Government have taken over; children are a lot safer in Colon.

Reference

http://www.foodforthepoor.org/about/work/panama.html