"I was genitally mutilated at the age of ten. When the operation began, I put up a big fight. The pain was terrible and unbearable... I was badly cut and lost blood... I was genitally mutilated with a blunt penknife. After the operation, no one was allowed to aid me to walk... Sometimes I had to force myself not to urinate for fear of the terrible pain. I was not given any anesthetic in the operation to reduce my pain, nor any antibiotics to fight against infection. Afterwards, I hemorrhaged and became anemic. This was attributed to witchcraft. I suffered for a long time from acute vaginal infections." - Hannah Koroma, Sierra Leone

Female genital mutilation is also known as FGM. It is the practice of cutting away a part of or all of a girl’s external genitalia. It is a practice that is preformed mainly on children and adolescents who are about four to fourteen years old. In some countries like Ethiopia, more than half of FGM is performed on children who are under a year old.

There are an estimated seventy million girls who have been mutilated in Africa and Yemen, more and more have been found all over the world. They have been found in Australia, Europe, Canada and even in USA. The people who do FGM actually have a very high status in their communities and they are paid very well.

The reason why FGM is practiced is to control or reduce the sexuality of the females. They also want to maintain their society their own way. They also think that the female genitalia is dirty and ugly so they cut it off. They also do it for religious reasons.

FGM violates the most basic human rights. It discriminates against women and it violates their right for equal opportunities. They are at risk for health problems. It is very degrading and cruel.

It is irreversible. It can cause death because of severe bleeding which causes hemorrhagic shock and neuroginic shock as a result of pain and trauma. There is also always the risk of infection, it will be even worse if they are in a third world country. Most girls enter a state of shock because of the severe pain, trauma and just sheer exhauson from screaming.

Female genital mutilation is just depressing. Nobody should ever be put through that. This is degrading and they should never have their rights as a woman taken away from them. We need to join the fight and somehow help stop Female Genital Mutilation.

Hungry Children...

After talking about child trafficking, I must admit it was hard thinking of something as hard hitting to talk about here. Suddenly it hit me, there are millions of hungry children all over the world. There are children out there who are starving for little scraps of food. On the other side of the world, there are children who get huge helpings every day of their lives only to eat about a quarter of it. Are we to blame the children who get a lot of food? No, it's just the way of life. It is just unfortunate and sad that children everywhere do not get the same choices.

When children are hungry, it impacts their learning. This is why schools everywhere make sure that they get enough to eat at breakfast, at lunch and at dinnertime. Schools also try to offer snacks or make sure they bring snacks from home. Third- world countries do not get the same choices. My class had a guest lecturer from one organization called FoBSD. The organization is called Friends of the Buea School for the Deaf. The organization is trying to raise more awareness for a school in Cambodia called Buea School for the Deaf. The guest lecturer explained that the school works hard to make sure that the children get their breakfast and lunch. It is usually very simple but it is better than nothing. Most other schools are not able to provide food because there is not enough money.

http://www.fobsd.org/

Because most of our brain development occurs in the early years of our lives, malnutrition can have a huge impact. This is why it has a huge impact on children in third-world countries or children in poor families who are suffering from malnutrition. Tens of children die every minute of the day because of malnutrition. This is a devastating statistic. About seventy five percent of the 146 million undernourished children are from just ten countries. India has a large number of the total children, 57 million. More and more countries are suffering and then children as a result suffer the most.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/malnutrition-kills-10-children-every-minute-says-un-476571.html

World hunger is terrible. It can happen in any part of the world. I know it seems like we only think it can happen in third world countries but it can happen in the best countries. There are poor people everywhere that cannot afford to feed their families. As a result of that, children become malnourished or undernourished. Their brains will not develop properly and that takes their chance of a normal life away. There are things that we can do to help prevent world hunger. Children can practice their vocabulary on freerice.com and for every answer they get right ten grains of rice will be donated through the UN World Food Program. This website gives a lot of links to different websites that want to help end world hunger- http://www.squidoo.com/world-hunger.

You can make a difference. Take the chance and save a life.

Child Trafficking

Child trafficking is a sad event that ordinary people in America do not think of. It is hard to explain what I mean by ordinary. I don't mean growing up in a 2.5 children household with a white picket fence and a dog. I mean people who grow up with relatively no problems that are out of the ordinary. I admit I really did not think about problems that are out of the ordinary like not having food to eat, not having money or being sold to work as a sex slave that much until starting this course, GSR 241. All of a sudden, it is all sad things about children being branded in my mind four hours a week. Well, more If you consider the time I have to spend doing my homework. I realize that I have been grateful to have not been exposed to any of the unfortunate events that children in third-world countries or even poor children in ordinary countries like America have had to face.


More and more today, I am shocked at the numbers. UNICEF shows that there are girls who may be as young as thirteen years old who are being trafficked as mail order brides. In parts of Africa, a large number of children are being trafficked for domestic work and possibly for sexual exploitation. UNICEF estimates that in Southeast Asia, about thirty to thirty-five percent of all sex workers are between twelve to seventeen years of age.

Child Trafficking

Numbers are truly terrifying and shocking. How sad is it that they have so many young children who are being trafficked. The average American probably thinks that sex trafficking really doesn't happen in America because we have better child rights. However, this is not always the case. Child sex trafficking can happen anywhere, anytime. One incident was when "Debbie" was abducted from her own driveway. She was then forced in the world of prostitution. What even more shocking was that her "body" was put up for sale through Craig's list. That shows how easy it is these days to sell anything even a unwilling woman's body. It was just truly horrible story but it shows that it can really happen anywhere.


Teen Girls' Stories of Sex Trafficking in U.S. - ABC News


Child trafficking is happening right now. Children out there in all parts of the world are being sold for money. Their bodies are being used when they should be running around and reveling in the fact that they are free to live life as they want to. Ten minutes ago, before reading this blog, you may not have realized the severeness of child trafficking. Hopefully now you will realize it and take a stand against it.