Getting to Know International Organizations: Part 1

I chose to research the International Child Resource Institute (ICRI). The vision of the ICRI is for all children and families to "fulfill their greatest potential" (International Child Resource Institute, n.d.a) They wish for all children to have access to high quality education, health interventions, and resources to overcome poverty through their grassroots community development. ICRI also aims to protect children's rights and the empowerment of women/girls.

Through researching their website, I found that they have had multiple projects across the world in an attempt to assist certain areas who encounter issues involving education, children's rights, empowerment of women/girls, health intervention, or their grassroots community development. Using their resources and expertise, they collaborate with the countries in need to determine how they can support their communities best. The ICRI has had projects in Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, USA, Nepal, and Sweden, to name a few. I didn't find any new/current projects, but the outcome their projects have outlive the project itself. For example, in 2000, ICRI started a project in Ghana to help children in poverty gain access to "sustainable Child Care assistance and services" and to promote and empower each child's rights (International Child Resource Institute, n.d.b). Teachers in the area attend training sessions and receive resources, in order to educate the children with contemporary practice and ensure the child's rights. ICRI also established a preschool in a low income area of Ghana, so children and families have a place to go that is "warm, secure, nurturing, and academically stimulating" (International Child Resource Institute, n.d.b).

The ICRI has initiated a couple of projects in Kenya since 2005, including the "development of a new settlement child and family park, expansion of our childhood and child health programs, improvement of water and sanitation systems, and utilization of ICRI's locally developed early childhood centers as community center buildings" (International Child Resource Institute, n.d.c). These projects are essential because they directly affect children and families living in poverty, and aim to provide them with the resources they need to survive and be successful. The ICRI established an office in Nairobi to serve as a headquarters but also to maintain the large projects in Kenya (International Child Resource Institute, n.d.c).

After researching this institution, I am enlightened by the amount of work that their programs do to support communities around the world. Not only do they focus on providing high quality education to these poverty-ridden communities, but they aim to support children's rights, provide health interventions, and support the individuals within the community to feel strong and empowered even though they have few resources. What this helped me to realize is that poverty can be seen in many different ways. Poverty can be the lack of clean water, to the lack of feeling empowered. People in these communities encounter poverty in more ways than I had imagined before, because I used to only see poverty as lacking safe shelter or access to nutritional foods. This program does a lot to help people around the world feel safe, educated, and strong.

References

International Child Resource Institute. (n.d.). http://www.icrichild.org

International Child Resource Institute. (n.d.). Ghana. http://www.icrichild.org/ghana/

International Child Resource Institute. (n.d.). Kenya. http://www.icrichild.org/kenya/