Young and homeless (part I): find stability in school

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was produced with support from a New America Media fellowship to report on children in poverty in California, and is part one of a three part series exploring youth homelessness and education.

FRESNO, May 21 (New America Media) -- Every morning, Anissa Gutiérrez leaves her home at the Fresno Rescue Mission Emergency Family Shelter, located in an industrial area of central Fresno, and walks her three children to Lincoln Elementary School.

Along their brief journey, Gutiérrez , 8 year-old Lily, 7 year-old Gavien, and 5 year-old Deon pass the homeless shelter Poverello House, and a lot filled with small sheds that also house the homeless, called Village of Hope. They continue past the scattered tents and makeshift shelters that comprise the city's homeless encampments, and walk along the Highway 99 overpass.

Once they arrive at Lincoln Elementary, Lily and Gavien wave goodbye to their mother and then scamper toward the schoolhouse, blending in with their classmates.

Gutiérrez, 35, lost her apartment days before Christmas, and moved into the Rescue Mission shelter last January. School, she said, provides her kids with a few hours of ”normal life” during a period of uncertainty.

"I want them to go to school and stay in school for the rest of their lives," said Gutiérrez, a Fresno High School graduate who said that growing up, "I didn't know college was something I could actually do."

No matter how much Gutiérrez “hates” walking out the shelter’s front doors and facing the wretched surroundings, nothing will stop her from making the daily pilgrimage to Lincoln Elementary with her kids. Prioritizing their education, said Gutiérrez, means ensuring that “they don't end up here" later in life.

With 2,400 homeless students (more than 60 percent of them Latino), Fresno Unified School District has the second highest number of homeless students in the state, trailing only the Los Angeles school district.

"School is a sanctuary, and education represents hope and a way out of poverty for a lot of these kids," said Joe Martínez, community relations and outreach manager for the Fresno County Economic Opportunity Commission's Sanctuary and Youth Services, which provides shelter and resources to homeless youth.

"This is a place where they can come and have dreams and goals,a€

But even though many homeless youth and their families prioritize education, and despite federal and local resources intended to help them, barriers still exist. Only about 60 percent of homeless students in Fresno’s school district graduated from high school last year. Nationally, about 38 percent of homeless people have achieved less than a high school degree by age 18, according to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.

With the recession leaving increasing numbers of families homeless a€“ and with education widely regarded as a cornerstone to future success and stability a€“ this adds up to a crisis that could have ramifications for decades to come.

In 2008, 224,249 California students attending grades K-12 -- or 3.6 percent of all public school students -- were reported to be homeless, according to KidsData.org. And according to the National Center for Homeless Education, the number of homeless students enrolled in California schools is rising at an alarming rate: 29 percent between the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years alone. Neither figure includes children, or youth, whose lives are so chaotic they don’t even make it to school.

The troubles for Gutiérrez began late last fall, when she unexpectedly found herself covering the cost of rent and utilities for an apartment she and her children shared with a relative. Even with financial support from the county, she could not shoulder the full bill, and she lost the apartment in late December. The family was homeless by Christmas.

During that rough time, she and her three youngest children crashed at the homes of various friends and family members, always leaving before they had worn out their welcome. Despite their mobility, Gutiérrez did her best to keep her kids in school. "I was just trying to keep them on a stable track," she said.

When a room finally opened up at the Rescue Mission’s family shelter in January, Gutiérrez and the kids moved in. After constantly moving, Gutiérrez was grateful her children could go to school each morning knowing they had a steady place to return to in the evening.

"They get to go to school every day and I know they ate, I know they have somewhere to go home to," said Gutiérrez, who wears baggy sweatshirts and sunglasses pushed into her dark ponytail, and hopes to someday become a car mechanic.

Susan Cavazos was also thankful to have secured a room at the shelter for herself and her three sons. They had moved into the shelter after their apartment burned down, and they had lost everything.

Cavazos shares Gutiérrez’ faith in education. Her oldest son is enrolled in the Gifted and Talented Education (GTE) program and her middle child is an avid basketball player. "My hope is to get them through school, to get them through college, and I'm going to stick with them 100 percent," she said.

And like Gutiérrez, living at the shelter has only underscored the importance of education for her children. "Look around at where we are -- is that what you want?" Cavazos said she reminds her children.

Though the shelter is situated in a gritty part of Fresno, the interior is welcoming. There are nine bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, plus a front room that doubles as a chapel, and a kitchen with laundry machines. Much of the shelter is decorated with colorful murals, flowers and biblical verses.

"When you come in, it's comforting, it's relaxing," said shelter manager Robin Bump. "We want them to feel like they are safe and everything is going to be OK."

Demand has increased in recent years, Bump said. The number of families aided by the non-profit shelter increased from 154 in 2008 to 179 in 2010, and according to Bump, "there are more out there that need help."

Most of the families in the shelter are single women with children. Over the past year, at least 10 families landed in the shelter after the home they were renting was foreclosed upon.

Gutiérrez's challenges didn't end once she found a room at the shelter. Under the federal McKinney-Vento Act - the primary piece of federal legislation aimed at supporting homeless students - homeless youth can remain at their original school regardless of where they are staying, and travel there using bus tickets provided through the school district. They can also enroll at a school without having a permanent address.

But getting Lily and Gavien to their original school meant waking up at 5 a.m and taking two buses. Despite her commitment to maintaining stability in her children’s lives, Gutiérrez faced a tough choice. Eventually, she decided to transfer them to a school more nearby, Lincoln Elementary.

"It hurts my heart that I had to swoop them out of school and take them away from their little friends that they've made," Gutiérrez said.

It was a Monday night, and the kids had stayed home from school that day as they recovered from a hacking cough that was going around the shelter. Gutiérrez’ daughter Lily was bundled in a pink down jacket, even as she sat in the shelter's kitchen. Changing schools wasn’t easy, she chimed in.

"I have to make new friends," she said in a small voice.

To ensure that Lily and Gavien didn't fall behind at their new school, Lincoln Elementary and the Fresno school district provided assistance to Gutiérrez and her kids: A tutor helped Lily with her homework before school each morning, and Project ACCESS -- which assists homeless Fresno Unified students with enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school -- provided the kids with backpacks, supplies, snacks, and jackets.

Relatively speaking, Lily and Gavien have a lot of support: They have a warm, clean shelter with their own room; they live in a district that is recognized for its outreach to homeless students; and, perhaps most importantly, they have their mother. Will this be enough to help them meet the challenge of succeeding in school when they lack something as fundamental as a home of their own?

"Overall, children that are homeless are not performing as well as other students in their district, or as well as the economically disadvantaged subgroup," said Diana Bowman, program director for the National Center on Homeless Education.

But, Bowman said, there is still hope for talented, motivated homeless students. "Generally, for strong students, the impact (of being homeless) won't be quite as bad," she said. "If they are weak, struggling students, and have a history of school mobility and homelessness, it's more difficult to achieve."

It was evident that being homeless prevented Lily and Gavien from experiencing school as many of their classmates might.

Asked where he does his homework, Gavien responded simply, "I do mine in the car." Gavien, a goofy kid who enjoyed making silly faces for the camera, is still young and adaptable enough to think nothing of that.

"Sometimes we just go out (to the parking lot) and sit in the truck," Gutiérrez explained. "We just get tired of being here. We listen to the radio out there."

The kids also don't participate in school sports or other after-school programs while at the shelter. "Because we are here (at the shelter,) it is hard to get them into stuff like that, because there is no telling if we will be able to keep them in that school, once we leave here," Gutiérrez said. “That (hurts), but it has to be done. It's just easier for me, and for them, if they don't start stuff like that here."

It’s a concern that Cavazos shares. On that Monday night in January, Cavazos wore bright pink lipstick and a large, silver cross around her neck, but her mood was cloudy. “I don’t want to mess up my kids’ education,” she said. “That’s what they have. That’s the only thing they have.”

It was almost 7 p.m., so Gutiérrez and Cavazos led their children to the Rescue Mission's nightly chapel service, which, as shelter residents, they are obligated to attend. During the service, the residents prayed that Lily, Gavien and Deon would recover from their illness, and that everyone would soon find a home of their own.

"I just want them to be happy," Gutiérrez said of her kids. "I just want to take care of them. I can't spoil them, or give them everything in the world, but I want them to be happy."

Mixed messages from Africa (OneWorld.net)

9 (OneWorld.net) - two contrasting stories on the fragile economic development of Africa will face them heads of State gathering in Turkey for a critical United Nations Conference on "Less advanced countries of the world" which begins today.

At the Economic Forum on Africa that held in Cape Town, leading politicians and the development banks Friday painted a picture of the dynamic economic recovery, positioning of the continent as more exciting destination for investments of foreign companies.

Preparatory documents for the LDC Conference tell a very different story. Figures for poverty and hunger in Africa are rising rather than falling. And rich countries are accused of failing to control the unstable global economic and environmental conditions that inflict unfair setbacks on the most vulnerable economies.

These points of view remained in the World Economic Forum background where a study published by the African Development Bank said investors commercial potential in what they most wanted to hear. A new middle class is emerging in Africa.

The AfDB puts this figure "in the neighbourhood of 300 to 500 million people", a potential market for consumer goods which can not ignore the commercial interests. "Africa's emerging middle class includes approximately the size of the middle class in India or China," says the report, entitled "" in the middle of the pyramid: Dynamics of the middle class in Africa. ""

The World Bank has lent his authority to the conclusions. Interviewed by Overseas Development Institute of the United Kingdom, Chief Economist of the Bank Africa, Shanta Devarajan, said: "there is a feeling of optimism about Africa and the private sector at the Forum, with the delegates, referring to Africa as a destination of choice."

This photo of the investor-friendly is consistent with anecdotal of business travelers. The work of the major cities of Africa Environment begin to converge with global standards, while there is no shortage of young African business ready to do business.

A note of caution at the World Economic Forum event was sounded by the Africa Progress Panel, a high-level research and group chaired by former Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. Africa report published last week, annual of the group, described the recovery of the continent as "" low quality.... growth strongly dependent on the export of primary sources generally non-processed products. ""

The official entry of African Governments to the LDC Conference contains more explicit reservations, devoid of rhetoric of eldorado of the Cape. Their verdict which warned: "improving economic performance in the African LDCs has not contributed to earnings proportionate to the reduction of poverty."

African paper also notes that the State chaotic food world and of the energy markets, combined with the impact of climate change, is such that "hunger remains pervasive in many LDCs of Africa".

Held every ten years, the United Nations Conference on the least developed countries will review progress since the previous Brussels event in 2001. It also renewed commitment of the international community to the special needs of LDCs endeavour made to various conferences of the United Nations and summits in the course of recent years. Of the 48 countries falling within the classification of the LDC, 33 are in Africa.

According to this analysis by the Governments of the African LDC fresh optimism about an emerging middle class should be tempered by the rural economic realities. The majority of Africans live and work in the communities where agriculture remains taken trapped in a primitive State, with only 3% of land benefiting from agricultural irrigation.

Despite international commitments to the Millennium development goals, the number of people living in extreme poverty in Africa has increased over the Decade of 270 million to more than 300 million dollars. This was the conclusion of the 2011 of rural poverty report, published by the Fund International of the United Nations for agricultural development (IFAD).

The challenge for the economic development of Africa more inclusive is to break down the barriers between the embryonic urban consumers and poor agricultural communities. African leaders more articulate a vision of agriculture as a business proposition, attract investment and to persuade the young generation do step to migrate to the cities.

It is the vital question for the Minister of agriculture South Africa, Tina Joemat-Pettersson. "If they remain on the farm, the future of smallholder farmers be at the forefront of innovative, intensive agriculture of knowledge," she said in a debate on the report of IFAD in Cape Town.

The LDC Conference is likely to see a shift of emphasis away from potential private investment to the responsibilities of the richest Governments to honour their commitments to Africa. The story focused on the poverty of Africa's fortunes be important once more in Istanbul this week.

* More than information:

Africa Progress Panel highlights the economic recovery of the continent

OneWorld Global Poverty Guide

World poverty to thank you for corn harvest (OneWorld.net)

"if we have any kind of problem of time in the northern hemisphere, we have enough corn." This has been the alarming verdict of Alberto Weisser, head of the direction of Bunge, the presentation last Thursday of the results of the first quarter for U.S. agribusiness and multinational food.

While the basis of questions raised by the financial analysts on conference call of Bunge was bound for the benefit of the forecasts, low corn stocks have also been a concern among agencies for monitoring global food security.

"We need good weather," repeated Weisser, not to mention that the northern hemisphere already has a problem of time.

Some parts of Europe are familiar with abnormally high temperatures and lack of rain. The UK Met Office, warned that March and April could be the driest for 50 years. This is perhaps too early to assign the corn cycle, but do not augured well for a stable summer season.

More commonly called corn in the southern hemisphere, maize affects the prices of other grains and food products sold on the world markets. Its cost and availability affect the volume of food aid that major humanitarian donors are able to source from the United States and elsewhere.

Other developments shortly before and after the press conference of Bunge illustrate the contrast between the rich and poor of the world regions ability to cope with the increase in food prices.

Newly published us spending figures for March consumer dismissed the implications of the price of food. The average American family invests less than 10% of the income of households to food.

The price of gasoline has been rather the Centre of public interest. This explains why the 40% of 2011 U.S. corn crop should be transformed into ethanol, despite the stressful implications for world food stocks.

An analysis of very different consumption was published by the Asian Development Bank, of its annual meeting which starts tomorrow.

Drawing data from 25 developing countries in the region, the Bank concluded that food inflation of just 10% is sufficient to push 64.4 million people below the international poverty line. "Poor households allocate more than 60% of their food consumption," said ADB Chief Economist Changyong Rhee.

Annual inflation of food in early 2011 is as "estimated the number of poor increased due to an increase of 10% of the price of food may have already taken place," cautions against the report. The Bank also noted that prices rise further.

Asia represents two-thirds of global poverty. Africa is the location for the final third and is even more vulnerable to price inflation.

The implication of the analysis of the Asian Development Bank, is that global poverty has increased by more than 100 million due to the skyrocketing prices of food products last year.

Evidence of additional sensitivity in East Africa saw the risk that convent since public unrest in several countries. What started this month Uganda as a peaceful demonstration of the "labour market" over the increase in food prices caused a heavy response by the security forces of President Musoveni.

Responsibility for the supply and demand in the world to feed monitoring lies with an organization of food and Agriculture. The time of the current crisis is clumsy FAO upcoming retirements of his long-standing service Director-General, Jacques Diouf.

The selection result of the process for his replacement to be chosen in July, has now a step forward. Six candidates have issued 4-page statements to promote their credentials.

All candidates are men, none of them from Africa or South Asia where hunger and malnutrition are most acute. Only the candidate of Iraq included any specific mention of right to food in the context of his plans.

Another multilateral body with the power to energize the global food supply is the World Trade Organization. Of the Doha development programme was designed as a new round of trade negotiations to help poor countries in the expansion of exports of agricultural products.

The process is dying for some years. Friday, a new attempt at resuscitation exceeded with the WTO Director General Pascal Lamy lamenting on "a loss of interest by politicians in many settings."

Constructive proposals for global food security last week were thus left to the humanitarian agency, Oxfam International, which published a report with the relevant title: "Who will feed the world?"

The report is faced with the seemingly irreconcilable differences between 500 million small farms around the world developing and industrial agribusiness, greedy land and new markets.

The two can coexist, says Oxfam, by in large investments to the poor." This requires legal guarantees and political rigorous for the rights of poor farmers. However, the report stops to clarify how such conditions could be achieved in the countries of low institutional capacity.

For now, it appears that the only winners of the food crisis are the giants of agribusiness as Bunge, whose profit three months totalled $ 232 million. "This is probably our best first quarter ever in agricultural industries," says executive chef Alberto Weisser Bunge.

Stillbirth could be cut in half worldwide (OneWorld.net)

(DAKAR, 27 Apr IRIN) - preventing stillbirths can cost just US $2.32 per mother if Governments, the private sector and international institutions to adopt a package of 10 health interventions, rather than allowing the stillbirth to be an almost invisible problem.

If ten recommended interventions 99 percent implemented in 68 priority countries [low- and middle-income], the number of stillbirths may be reduced by half, said Professor Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta the Aga Khan University Medical Centre to the author of Karachi (Pakistan)one of a series of papers on stillbirth published in the medical journal The Lancet papers.

Although the interventions have covered 60%, stillbirth could be reduced by one quarter. Some 2.64 million fetuses die after the 28th week of pregnancy, especially in low and middle-income countries.

Interventions include: full and basic emergency obstetric care. specialized care to the birth; detection and management of fetal growth restriction; detection and management of hypertension during pregnancy; induction to the choice in pregnancy after term; insecticide-treated bednets and intermittent prophylaxis to prevent malaria. detection and treatment of syphilis. folic acid supplementation. and management of diabetes during pregnancy.

Identify solutions

Stillbirths have largely been neglected in the policy of priority for various reasons. "There was little data for stillbirths and even less for its categories - if during childbirth [during birth] or before delivery [before childbirth] - and the risk factors and little confidence that interventions could make a difference.""," said Bhutta.

The Lancet series hoping to change that perception by re-framing stillbirths so that they are not considered as an unexplained event that occurs in the uterus, but as something that is potentially preventable if appropriate care are given during pregnancy and childbirth.

Bhutta suggested in his article than less expensive solutions, such as the improvement of prenatal care, malaria prevention, detect and treat syphilis, adopted immediately, so that more expensive interventions, such as training of health professionals and to buy equipment for emergency birthscould be built gradually.

Other interventions would need long-term improvement funds, including treatment of arterial hypertension, diabetes, pregnancy after term (which lasts longer than usual) and monitoring of fetal growth problems.

Providing qualified agents at birth would reduce stillbirths during childbirth by about 23%, said Dr. Joy Lawn, the NGO Save the Children, making it the most effective measures. Almost half of women in low- and middle-income countries give birth at home without skilled assistance.

Good plans or conditional cash transfers could be used to encourage women to have their baby in a facility, since in environments where the highest rates of infant mortality occurs only half of all births take place in facilities.

Maternal mortality

In high income countries, where most of the women receive care of good enough quality in giving birth, the proportion of stillbirths is less than 10 per cent of all births.

Sub-Saharan Africa, which has a scarcity of skilled birth attendants, made progress faster than Asia to encourage women to give birth in an institution. "One year ago, the international community became extremely nervous about the lack of progress in the reduction of maternal mortality", said the grass.

A year later, native to sub-Saharan Africa mortality had fallen by 2.6%. "This marks important apparent stillbirths, much emphasis in high income countries has been because the parents have called for it. Defining a political objective overall is a good way to achieve the order of the day. ?

One third of African countries meet the Millennium development goal to reduce child mortality (goal four) and improve maternal health (goal 5), which would also reduce stillbirths.

Some investments in the reduction of mortality maternal are already having a positive effect on the number of stillbirths, but these results are not given due importance. "Governments may claim to invest more if they have counted stillbirths in the work they do already," lawn said IRIN.

Reduce the cost of life of the mother $23,000 by averted deaths, but if the stillbirth and neonatal mortality is included, the drops figure at $2,700 per life saved. "Our unique message is," care at birth may be more expensive, but it gives you the biggest bang for your buck even if you plan it properly ".".