The Nitty Gritty Details

When researching about child hunger I found many different sources.....

Feeding America. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/child-hunger-facts.aspx>.

http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/child-hunger-facts.aspx 

This website is great source for readers who want to enhance their knowledge about world hunger. There are many different pages on different topics of malnutrition.  Some of the website talks about personal experiences while another page shows how readers can help. This source is very helpful to people looking for information because it is very reliable due the fact that is seen across the world and people are donating to the cause. I also think the website does a great job putting the readers in the shoes of someone starving because of the personal stories, it benefits the website because more people want to donate but it also benefits the readers.  Overall, this source helped me the most on my topic and I would recommend this website to anyone who is looking to increase their knowledge about world malnutrition.

"World Hunger Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. <http://www.statisticbrain.com/world-hunger-statistics/>
This source was perfect for what I needed for my blog on statistics.  It had very shocking facts that grabbed my blog readers attention.  However this source does not give information about the reasoning behind the statistics so I had to imagine what might have happened instead of knowing.  This can create fictional facts because someone will take these facts and put their own reasoning behind it that will be untrue.  If readers need to compare statistics or make a graph, this source is very reliable and great but too gain information past numbers I think people could find a better site.

Graham-Harrison, Emma. "Prevalence of Malnutrition in Southern Afghanistan 'shocking'" The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 04 Sept. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

Articles always seem to be a very reliable source that many people use, so I researched and found a great article that gave me an inside look that I wouldn't get from statistics or information posted on a website.  This article was about children being undernourished in Southern Afghanistan and some of the main causes of starvation.  I think the author did a great job interviewing, because one of the women described the struggles she faced with raising children.  My topic was on child hunger but when I read this article I became very interested in the women's perspectives. A couple of women couldn't produce enough milk so they gave their infants water and tea. This source helped me understand the overall picture better and because it was based on an area I think it created more of story to read rather than information.  I like how the writing is more of a story because it seems more realistic and reliable and I am more fascinated in writing about the women's experiences then facts. This is a great source and I would highly recommend it.

Kimeu, Peter. "Remembering a Hungry Childhood." New York Times [New York City] 10 Sept. 2011: n. pag. Print. 
I chose this article as one of my sources because it showed a huge cause of world hunger that not many people are aware of. This article was about how droughts caused a lack of income and how many families suffered from little to no food everyday because nothing can be grown.  The reason I picked this article is it showed how starvation can occur in many places and not just third world countries. I think there is a stereotype about how child malnutrition only happens in places of poverty but it can happen anywhere and this source shows that. I really liked this source because I think many people were surprised that a drought can cause death and struggles, so it drew in more readers.  This is also a great source for information about what can happen to families living on farms who depend on one source of income.  I would recommend reading this article to gain a better insight and see malnutrition from a different angle.  

Howard, Mary Theresa., and Ann V. Millard. Hunger and Shame: Poverty and Child Malnutrition on Mount Kilimanjaro. New York: Routledge, 1997. Print. 
My book is a very reliable and great source for my topic of child hunger.  Howard, travels to Mount Kilimanjaro and lives with many families experiencing lack of food. In the book she describes the families and their struggles. I really have enjoyed this book because its more of a story and you feel as though you are living with each individual family. This is a great source because it focuses on a certain location and the author can make her writing more detailed and specific rather than focusing on multiple areas making her writing more broad.  This book is perfect for my topic because it engages on the children, and with each children she writes about there is a unique story that goes along. If people would like to know more about children who are suffering from starvation over a long period of time and what their parents have done to save them, this would be great. Mary Theresa did a wonderful job bringing in different opinions and her frustrations along with tragedy but also happiness. This was very useful and it definitely supported my topic.

"Hungry Children Suffer. And 16 Million Kids in America Aren't Getting the Food They Need." Www.nokidhungry.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.
When I stumbled upon this website I was completely drawn in. "No kid hungry" is very engaging and is full of knowledge on every page. I really liked this website because it related the site to the audience. It show not only facts like other website but the after consequence and how it affects us individually and our community. This is a very good tactic to use because when child malnutrition can affect everyone it becomes more of a worldly issue that more people want to know more about. I also really like all the different gadgets used, some people learn better by hands on activities so by having a variety of different things to click on can also draw in more people. No Kid Hungry is a very reliable source and is one of the most well put together sites I have seen. If anyone is interesting in seeing how child hunger can affect you personally and others I would definitely visit this source it is great!

6B: My Choice

I chose to do another blog about an article I read based on the challenges of malnutrition. I believe that reading personal stories of people who have suffered from starvation is the best way to understand  my topic.  Readers can put themselves in others shoes and see the experience at a different angle rather than I blogging about facts.

SOMALIA: Halima Omar
July, 2011

In Somalia's Lower Shebelle Region a huge drought occurred and the Halima Omar family who was once considered very wealthy and powerful, owning 100 heads of cattle, now was completely torn apart and the family had been displaced. Omar, who was thirty years old had to bury four of her own children do to the lack of income and availability of food. "We were very comfortable when we had our animals. We were one of the better-off families in Da'ara. But this changed when we lost our last cow five months ago." This family based their lives off of their cattle and when the economy started to become weak and they couldn't sell any of their herd and had nothing. "The cows were all we had. My husband went looking for food every day in the bush but there was not much to hunt. Some days, he will come with enough from the bush to eat for one meal; other days we will go hungry. We went hungry more days than we ate. My children started dying slowly." Many families were experiencing this but even worse. This family was considered healthy and well off at the beginning so when their children started dying, many others had already lost their children.


Two of her children had survived through the suffering and so the family decided to make a change.  "We finally left the village two weeks ago to try to save the last two. Now we are in this camp in Kurtunwarey with many other families like us. I am breastfeeding both of my children because I have nothing else." This was the main option that most of the families decided was the best.  The camp however did not provide food so the struggling of surviving had not changed.  Omar described the camp as very helpful at the beginning while everyone gives their condolence's to each other but there were too many of them to make it worth it.  There was many kids that were weak and sick and every day was a struggle.  The article ended with a quote "Maybe this is our fate or maybe a miracle will happen and we will all be saved from this nightmare."

I chose this article because it was a personal story that let the readers get an inside look on the way life really is when having only one to none meals a day.  The purpose of this article was to gain more information as to why kids are dying from starvation.  Droughts can occur anywhere are are extremely hapless so I think that this was a good example of that this issue is worldly and something to take serious.  This article was not intended for donating money or volunteering for an organization, it was to make readers more aware of what happens in every day life for some families.  The question that still remains in my head though is why did people go to this camp and how did it benefit them?

"SOMALIA: Halima Omar, "I Watched Four of My Children Die of Hunger"" IRINnews. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2012.

6:A Quotes Quotes Quotes.....

"Francis and Bibiana had a coffee farm of average size; however, they could not afford the agricultural necessary to maintain good harvests.  They were dependent on cash income for buying food and could not purchase enough to feed their children" (page 54).

This quote grabbed my attention because it shows one of the main causes of child malnutrition and how realistic it can happen.  I can relate to this because growing up on a farm you know how many expenses there are and its hard to make a living in a tough economy, so farmers in Mt. Kilimanjaro have even a tougher time and must rely on other sources for money.  It fits into the overall message of my book because it shows the struggles that everyday citizens are challenged with and how easily it can happen to anyone and not just people without a job.

"He seemed to withdraw from us because carrying him only caused him pain; his body was swollen and tender from malnutrition"(page 24).

I was very intrigued by this quote because it was very shocking and the text leading up to this brought a lot of confusion.  The baby was growing sick and starving but the mom didn't seem to concerned and was feeding him a bottle that was dirty.  This quote fits into the purpose of "Hunger and Shame" because the strong message that is trying to be passed on is the lack of education that leads to malnutrition and sickness.  Many families are faced with problems everyday that they don't know anything about and don't comprehend if what they are doing is wrong or right so many kids die of starvation and sickness.

"Increased demand for their labor in the fields makes it difficult to continue prolonged breastfeeding. In the household, they also have to work at various  tasks and care for many other children.  Most families cannot afford to lose a woman's labor for six months" (page 109).

This was a very interesting amount of information that was written and that's why I picked it.  A children's starvation can come from lack of money but also from lack of breast milk due to women working in the fields.  This fits into my book because it shows how in third world countries, women are more needed for labor rather than raising children.  The message trying to be portrayed is that children are being neglected because families are trying to harvest their lands are make money for the children.  However, the children aren't receiving the proper diet without breast milk and are suffering from malnutrition.

Feeding America

http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/child-hunger-facts.aspx

The purpose of the website "feedingamerica.org" is to increase awarness of world hunger and show the impact is has on everyone.  In addition to giving out more knowledge and facts, this website also tells the reader what they can do to help by showing options of ways to donate and give to help these people that are suffering.  A non-profit organization created this website that is very well organized and engaging.

Throughout the website everything is very easy to navigate and well organized into six topics that are located on the top of the page.  These six topics cover all the information the reader will need.  The layout is very well thought out and grabs the reader's eye right away. There are many pictures on every single page of different children and the background of the website is a picture of a field that ties together everything.  The site looks professional and is definitely well written.  To the looks of it, this website has many editors because is world known and there can't be any mistakes.

Feedingamerica.org has more than just the basic facts of world hunger.  Under the tab "Hunger in America" there are facts about different ages and races that suffer from malnutrition.  This helps the reader understand the impact that is has on everyone.  It also gives more information on personal experiences that sets it apart from other websites. When viewers question how serious the issue is, personal stories impact their lives more than just facts, so that is amount of information is very beneficial.  All the information is correct and effective but at the same time not overwhelming.

Feedingamerica.org was created by a non-profit organization that gives more information about world hunger but it also gives people the opportunity to do something about it and donate to families.  It is a trustworthy site because it deals with money from people around the world and therefore it had to be approved by the government and readers can depend on it because it does not fabricate. This website is being updated on a regular basis because in the top right corner there is tab for getting email updates everyday for the readers.  Due to the fact that Feedingamerica.org is an organization that is trying to raise money for the people suffering, the website does have a bias.  The creators think that world hunger is one of the largest issues happening in the world so they are trying to make a change, by believing smaller world issues are not as much of a problem.  With this belief their bias would be that people should donate to their cause more.

Overall, this website is very reliable and has interminable amounts of information and ways to contribute to world malnutrition.  People can rely on this source to donate their money or if they need more facts for a research paper. 

World Hunger Statistics

The shocking facts behind world hunger.....

• 15 million children die each year from hunger
• 33% of the world is considered to be starving
• There are 3.6 seconds between deaths of people who die from hunger
• 800 million people in the world struggle with starvation and malnutrition
• 936 million people do no have enough to eat
• 98% of people living in developing countries do not have enough to eat
• 20,864 people die from hunger each day
• 11% of U.S. households are at risk of hunger

Although many readers find these statistics to be sad and depressing I chose this set of data because hunger is a worldly issue that many people die from and these statistics show how many deaths happen each year and each day and that more people should be aware.  I found this data on a statistics website that is used across the world to show readers statistics about everything, so I believe this source is very reliable because people rely on it across the world for statistics, financials, numbers and rankings  and it is a very well known website. This data is complete because the statistics are up to date and it gives an overall outlook of the cause and effects of world hunger.

Many insights are gained based off of this data. The cause of the 15 million children dying is probably due to the fact that many families are living in poverty and have many children per household. In my book the author talks about interviewing a family that lives in Mt. Kilamanjaro and the mom has 15 children but cannot afford food for any of them and many of them have died.  800 million people are struggling with starvation because of the lack of income per family and therefor a plethora of  kids are not able to receive meals every day and neither are the parents.

This set of data helps the reader understand the global issue of world hunger.  Since each statistic is so shocking it makes the reader want to know why the numbers are so large so they research it more and realize that this starvation is a problem that needs to be more well known.  Readers can learn about how many deaths are actually caused just from starvation.  This data will enhance their understanding of the topic.

One thing I would like to see different about this data is to show how many children are starving that have single mother or who are homeless or have two parents.  This would show more information about the income situation and the reader could receive a better insight.

Citation "World Hunger Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. <http://www.statisticbrain.com/world-hunger-statistics/>

Thoughts behind under nourished children

 Peter Kimeu a small-scale farmer in machos, Kenya and writer for the New York Times wrote an article on his personal experience growing up in a hungry childhood. The droughts were so bad in Kenya that even if someone had a lot of money they did not have any food to purchase.  No food was being grown and so the children weren't being fed.
Kimeu, Peter. "Remembering a Hungry Childhood." New York Times [New York City] 10 Sept. 2011: n. pag. Print.
" I can't count the number of days when "I slept like that" or describe the feeling of going to sleep hungry knowing I'd wake up and there would still be no food for breakfast.  The author helped the readers answer their questions on why child hunger is happening.  Most people think that it is from the lack of money and poverty but Kimeu has a different story.  The droughts are "cyclical" in Kenya. "I would walk the roads and search the ground to see if someone had spat out a bit of chewed-up sugar cane." The children would jostle each other for the last scrap. Many parents of starving children lose their jobs and can't afford food and it affects the whole community. This article was about how many people think that children are starving from being neglected or parent are financially hurting but this gives another point of view of how children are starving from a drought. 
The Rev. Sarai Schnucker Rice and Kristine Frakes who are both writers for the DesMoines paper shard their opinions and beliefs on how there are lasting effects on childhood hunger.  The article describes how if kids don't receive the proper nutrition of food at a young age it can affect the neurological architecture of your brain and central nervous system and it will be fundamentally and negatively altered.
Schnucker Rice, Sarai, and Kristine Frakes. "Iowa View: There Are Lasting Effects from Childhood Hunger." DesMoinesRegister.com. N.p., 27 Oct. 2012. Web. <http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20121028/OPINION01/310280038/Iowa-View-There-lasting-effects-from-childhood-hunger>.

These two authors talk about how being undernourished can affect the community in the future.  "As you mature into adulthood, you will not be well-prepared mentally, emotionally, physically or socially to perform in contemporary work environments".  They also share their thoughts about how the government's assistance is not enough, and for the low-income families there just simply isn't enough food.  Eventually there is not enough to stay in school long enough to learn their rudimentary skills and become productive adults.  
The message they are trying to get through is that the world has to do something different and create a new solution so that they can ensure a more promising foundation for the children and future of the community.
So what?
These two articles explain the suffering that the lack of food causes.  Since the first article broke down to a certain cause of starvation it can impact the world and how they want to make a difference because of the knowledge they received.  The second article shows the over all result of child malnourishment and since it is more relatable, it impacts the readers more to make a difference for the better of their community.

Malnutrition in southern Afghanistan

The title of the article I picked was Prevalence of malnutrition in southern Afghanistan 'shocking' and was written by Emma Graham-Harrison.  I know that this author wrote this article in Kandahar, Afghanistan for a UN-backed report which means she got an inside look on the malnutrition of children.  She got first hand experience which helped influence her point of view, because seeing the distraught children badgering their parents for food makes the author see her very own lifestyle from a different view and probably wrote differently.  I think Graham-Harrison put more emotions into her writing because she saw how families struggled to survive.   If she didn't have that first hand experience, her writing would be more factual because it would have been hard to in cooperate other views and feelings of people living in Kandahar when she hasn't been there.

The writing overall is very factual so I think it is for all types of audiences but mostly for those that want to become more educated on child hunger.  For example the entire article starts out with "Around a third of young children in southern Afghanistan are acutely malnourished, with a level of deprivation similar to that found in famine zones...".  By starting out with a fact it engages the readers who are interested in knowing more about the topic and that is why I think it is intended for people hoping to learn more about child malnutrition.

There was a plethora of key points in the article but I managed to break it down.  One key point is that Afghanistan is not using the money the receive wisely and many children are starving and are in poverty.  This point was made by introducing it in the first paragraph "Around a third of young children in southern Afghanistan are acutely malnourished, with a level of deprivation similar to that found in famine zones, a government survey has found, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid that has been poured into the region." and then she goes pack to that point later on in the article to give more detail.  Another key point was that women are being told being told its not good enough so they are giving their children tea and water.  Others do not have enough breast milk for their children to grow on.  "I was feeding him breast milk but I couldn't provide enough, and could not could not afford the formula".  This point was made by using repetition throughout the article of different women and their stories.  The author used Ethos because it showed emotion and women across the world could relate.

I think the article was very effective on making the authors point for the intended audience.  This article wasn't only facts but it had real quotes from people suffering from malnutrition.  The audience wants to know more about why they are starving and this article does a great job explaining its points.

Questions I still have:
Where does the money from other countries go?
How do women afford tea and water but not milk formula?

An Inside look on Child Hunger

How would you feel if food was a struggle to have everyday?  Could you survive on one piece of bread everyday if that is all your parents could afford? Many kids across the world suffer from malnutrition and over millions of kids die every year. 

Child Hunger is always something that I have thought about because I believe its a huge problem that many are unaware about.  I first became interested in it during freshman year when we had to make a change in the world for our U.S. History class.  When I researched child hunger I knew that was the topic I wanted to make a change in so I bought a goat through the heifer project and gave it to a family. 

All the information I have learned has come from the internet.  When we were choosing our inquiry project I learned that well over 500 million people are living in poverty and that about 183 million children weigh less than they should for their age.  Hunger is the single gravest threat to the world's public health.  I also found out that children starve more than adults which made me choose the specific topic child hunger because I thought that it was interesting that more children starved because I would think parents would provide more food for their children instead of themselves.  The cause of starvation is an imbalance of energy intake and energy output. 

Questions that I hope to answer by January are:
Are there more kids per family that make it hard for each one to survive because they have to split up the food?
In what countries is child hunger most common?
Can diseases cause malnutrition?
What else to children in poverty struggle from that could cause starvation?

I chose this book because it takes place on Mt. Kilimanjaro where child hunger is a mundane problem and is occurring everyday.  By having the book be placed in one setting it can focus on the children and you can receive an inside look at the struggles they face on a regular basis.

The easiest part of this project will be researching and gaining all the information I can because I will be very interested and I want to know more about this project.

The hardest part of this project will be taking the information and writing about it because I will have a plethora of information that it will be hard to organize it and not leave any details out.  Another hard part will be making it interesting to others because they may not find what I write about as interesting so I need to keep it engaging.

This project will have its hard and easy times but I am sure I can handle it and do a good job while also giving insight to others that don't have any knowledge on the topic.