UNICEF Costa Rica

I chose the area of Latin America more specifically Costa Rica because of an upcoming trip my youngest daughter is taking next year through Girl Scouting.

Many of the articles on the web site are a year or two old so accuracy is a bit harder.  But what I was able to gather from for the statistics portion is that poverty and young mothers are still prevalent in Costa Rica.  Many families live on $6580.00 a year and that motherhood comes at a young age for most girls before they are 18 years old but the percentage number is not giving.  The same hold true for marriages or unions or those whose spouses who endorse wife beating. 

Many of the children do attend school.  Most of them appear to have a basic education preschool-6 grade with some going on to higher education, mostly boys.

When living with a mom who has a lower education level they may become overwhelmed with care for infant and toddlers.  These moms may not have the support network to know what is appropriate for a child to do or even how to go about basic care routines for their child. The mothers are educated on vaccines but few of them breast feed past the first 6 months, if at all.    

On the more positive note Costa Rica has signed the Child Public Policy and is starting to make strides towards seeing that children are place first when decision are made. I see this as a giant step in the right direction so that the children of Costa Rica can have a childhood and education like my daughter has received.  As I help her understand the sights she will be seeing as her travels from the larger city of San Jose to the rainforest ranch I plan on letting her know she may see families that look to have a mother her age.  Also I think about what I want to be able to do impact the children in Costa Rica. I feel that it could go beyond supporting UNICEF but maybe see what my church is doing there and supporting that mission field with what is needed.