My cousin and her young children experienced one of the worst natural disasters NJ has had in a while almost a year ago now, Hurricane Sandy. Being told to have to evacuate their house not knowing when they will be able to return and in what condition are they going to find the place they called home for almost 15 years is a stressor I would not want to have by my side. Packing just as much as they could grab for the short time they had to move on out and hoping their childhood memories and family heirlooms would not get completely destroyed. Her and the children were not able to return to the development where she lived for almost 3 weeks living with friends and family who didn’t have it as bad as they did. People around the world have the stress of preparing for a natural disaster as much as you can and wondering what they are going to have to deal with afterwards. There were many who were affected by Hurricane Sandy and are still trying to repair and restore their lives. There were so many wonderful people out there who gave their time and energy as well as their own personal belongings to help out communities in need. They found comrade-re in those that were affected by the hurricane as well. The children were all able to get together and try to find some sort of comfort and routine in their daily lives again.
The last time we had to blog and research malnutrition in other countries I chose South Africa, so this time I chose to continue my research of childhood stressors in Africa and South Africa. Some traditional childhood stressors that seem likely in the United States could be parent’s divorce, hospitalization and possibly separation from parents. Children in South Africa have daily stressors of war and terror. There has been specific research conducted examining the emotional status of children exposed to political violence in the squatter camps of Cape Town. Stressful life events have been linked to major psychiatric disorders in South Africans as well as substance abuse and impulse control disorders. There are trauma support groups available for people in South Africa, some mainly geared toward children to help them cope through education and understanding.
A quote I found through my research of South Africa I thought fit this assignment.
Children are not strangers to stress. Over a significant span of human history they have been more often the victims of the slings and arrows of an uncaring society than recipients of its beneficent protection. (Garmezy 1988, p 49
http://www.csvr.org.za/index.php/publications/1554-growing-up-in-violent-situations-the-south-african-situation.html
The devastation that hit during hurricane Sandy is incomprehensible. It broke my heart when just recently after trying to rebuild after the hurricane that horrible fire broke out and destroyed all of the businesses that worked so hard to recover. This had to greatly affect the children once again because of so many different factors. I am sure parents that own those businesses were trying to rebuild and recover from business loss and now they had to lose for the second time. When money is a stressor for families it can be devastating in so many different ways.
ReplyDeleteKristen,
ReplyDeleteI know exactly how your cousins felt during Hurricane Sandy. I live in Louisiana and from May to November it's hurricane season. During those months, our lives revolve around the weather. We experienced the devastation of Hurricane Andrew. It took a long time to recover from this hurricane. This hurricane affected everyone, from the youngest to the oldest person. My family was blessed to only lose half of the roof off of our house. Some families lost their entire home. It was hard living with someone else until our home was repaired. The children were out of school and you had to try to keep them occupied and busy. The would cry because they wanted to go to their home and play with their toys. Everyone involved was stressed at some point.