Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 1

In the beginning of the course we were asked to establish communication with a Early Childhood Professional form another country. I began my search for contacts and sent out emails and was unsuccessful in gaining communication. I also could not get the podcast to work. For this weeks blog post I am unable to introduce my international contact or discuss the podcast, so I chose to visit the website  (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/) I chose to focus on poverty in Kyrgyztstan. I chose this country because I had no prior information about the country or the poverty state they are in. 


After reviewing the information presented on the website I was able to come across some insights/ideas about Kyrgyzstan and poverty. 
-Majority of the population (about 60%) make a living from agriculture.
-At their independence, Kyrgyzstan was one of the poorest ex-Soviet Republics( estimated 32.9% of population living below Soviet poverty line)
-49% of urban people under 20 and 55% of rural under 20 years old lived in poverty in 2001 with 18% unable to afford even the basic food needs. 
-The government is working on reducing poverty. They have developed a 15 year vision, Comprehensive Development Framework, for the country. the first 3 year plan is the National Poverty Reduction Strategy. 


With looking at the statistics I found about this country, it seems as if the government is taking a step in the right direction in order to improve their countries current state of poverty. 




Refernces:
 (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/)