What’s the Reality for Mothers Around the World?

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1. Brandy May 14, 2013

   Hello Andrew! My name is Brandy, and I actually wrote the copy for this infographic. I’m going to do the best I can to answer your questions–and please feel free to ask any clarifying questions. The nature of an infographic is to boil down information to very bite-size pieces, so I appreciate your follow-up questions!

   The number of mothers in CSP is higher than the number of children because we don’t count children until they are born–so all pregnant mothers are counted as one mother, no child, which accounts for the higher number of moms than children. Hope that clears that up.

   That was the easy one 🙂

   Okay, for education. I’m not 100% sure that this will answer your questions, so I’ll do my best! US standards of education are far different than those standards in developing countries. So a literate mother (one who has learned to read and write) is what I am referring to here. We do teach mothers to read and write, as necessary, through the Child Survival Program–but it is rare, if not impossible, for an adult woman living in poverty to go back to school. That is more of a western idealogy.

   The HIV stat can go two ways. First of all, there are young mothers in the Child Survival Program, so education can prevent them from contracting HIV/AIDS in their adult lives. So that stat can go that way. But it can also speak to the children that the mothers in the Child Survival Program are having. Those children are more likely to be educated (as educated mothers are more likely to educate their children). And please note, the stat refers to “basic education” which are things like literacy and basic math skills. And the Child Survival Program itself provides a LOT of real-life “education” skills too–reading, writing, childcare, business, etc.

   I hope that question also answers your other HIV/AIDS question? If not, please let us know!

   The 10% stat about level of school/completed wages…this does not just refer to females. And the Child Survival Program teaches mothers skills that they would have learned in school. So while we’re not actually sending mothers back to school in most cases, we are bringing them up to equivalent levels of education. Also, as noted above, their children are more likely to be educated. It’s an exciting way to break the cycle of poverty!

   I would also encourage you to dig into some of the sources referenced in the footer of the infographic. There is some really interesting information out there about what it means to help mothers in poverty!

   And of course, if there’s anything that wasn’t clarified, feel free to send follow-up questions and I’ll do my best to respond to them!

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2. Andrew May 9, 2013

   I totally agree with the spirit of this infographic, which has a lot of interesting information and a pleasant design. And I’ve been a Child Survival Program sponsor in the Philippines for about five years. However, I don’t follow all the numbers here.

   If by definition each mother has at least one child (some have twins), how is the number of mothers (28,373) greater than the number of children (27,652)?

   In the last section, do you mean the process of learning to read and write (though not necessarily accomplishing it) is the same as having an education? In a US analogy that seems to compare a first grader with a high school graduate.

   Regarding HIV/AIDS, is it fair to compare the statistics of “girls” (presumably virgins and not mothers) who complete an education to mothers who are learning (but haven’t necessarily learned) to read and write?

   Also, could you clarify the HIV/AIDS statistic accounts for the cause-and-effect problem of sex causing a baby and a baby cause a women to abandon education? In other words, sex itself causes both HIV/AIDS and a lack of education.

   Finally, does “for every year of school completed wages increase by 10%” imply (1) the statistic is for women (not just females in general or males and females together) and (2) that CSP includes causes mothers in the program to complete more school?

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