A group of four panelists described the working conditions of children in underdeveloped countries and highlighted efforts to help impoverished children during a discussion at the Pugh Hall Ocora Monday night.
A crowd of about 60 gathered to listen to the talk, sponsored by Gators for Asha, which educates underprivileged children in India, and the UF chapter of Children Beyond Our Borders, which helps more than 100 children in Colombia.
The discussion kicked off Education Awareness Week, which promotes the importance of helping impoverished children in developing coutries.
Taryn Devereux, the public relations director for UF’s Children Beyond Our Borders, moderated the discussion.
Devereux asked the panelists, which included two UF professors, a UF alumna and a UF student, about the best ways to help children in poverty create a better life.
Angelica Suarez, a UF alumna and panelist, emphasized the importance of listening to impoverished children.
“If we don’t listen to them, we will fail every time we try to implement a new project,” Suarez said. “Listening to children is the best way to get through to them.”
Suarez said children who grow up in poverty are not exposed to a wide variety of career goals and may not form high career expectations.
“I want to be a mother, housekeeper or taxi driver,” she said. “These are the type of answers we would get when we ask the children what they want to be when they grow up.”
Her solution is to give the children a glimpse of what is outside their environment.
“We try to give them exposure to other things they can achieve,” she said.
The other panelists included Renata Serra, a lecturer in UF’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a development economist; Tim Fogarty, a UF professor and the program coordinator for the UF in Nicaragua study abroad program; and Ali Zuaiter, a UF business major.
Shivashankar Halan, a member of Gators for Asha, was pleased with the outcome of the discussion panel.
“It was really informative,” Halan said. “Although our goals are the same, it was interesting to see how other like-minded organizations work on implementing these types of projects.”
