Stress in a Child's Life

A person that I have known for many years has mentioned that her father had abused her and her siblings when they were children.  I decided to ask her how she coped with this stress in her life.  She said that she remembers her father being very strict and that he would spank them with the belt if he caught her and her sister looking out the window. They were not allowed to play outside or look out the window because her father would say that they were looking at the boys and they were not allowed to do that.  She and her siblings were not able to use the vacuum or the broom to clean their rooms, they had to get down on their hands and knees and use a hair brush to clean the carpets.  When their father left the house their mother would get out the broom and vacuum and tell them to hurry and use them before their father came back.  Sometimes her father would decide to take them on a ride and they would end up at a bar.  Her father would leave them in the car and go in to drink.  She remembers hiding on the floor of the car with her brother because it was dark and they were scared.  She and her brother fell asleep and she is not really sure how long they would be in the parking lot but it seemed like forever.

I asked her how she coped with this stress constantly in her life.  She and one of her sisters shared a room and they would talk about things that made them happy.  She also remembers that they would play with their Barbies and make mansions for them then they would pretend that they were rich and did not have any worries in the world. She also had a tall Barbie that was a tall doll and she pretended that the doll was a character from her favorite show, Battle Star Galactica, and that she and the doll were in the TV show and she could get away from reality and be free in the show.

She used her imagination to get away to a happy place so that the abuse would fade away in her mind for awhile.  She and her siblings also leaned on each other for support to get through the stress of abuse.  Her father left her mother and all the children and to this day does not have any contact with them.  She is now a mother of four grown children and she has worked very hard to provide them with a happy childhood.

In looking at another country to learn more about a stressor that is affecting children there, I decided to read more on a disease that affects a lot of children in Kenya, malaria.  According to Patterson Siema of World Vision Kenya, low birth weigh, anemia and complications of brain development that could cause mental disabilities are some of the affects that malaria has on children.  Some of the things that are being done to stop the spread of malaria are that homes are to be spayed with a biodegradable chemical that keeps the mosquitoes away.  Thousands of insecticide treated mosquito nets have been distributed to families and also families are being educated about new ways to treat malaria.

Resource
World Vision