This project will provide necessary services to babies born from early and unplanned pregnancies from teen mothers in vulnerable areas of Panama: -Help us build a nursery to care for more babies -Give access to pediatric evaluations -Basic and Vital medical treatments. -Early stimulation for a healthy cognitive, physical, and social development. Our goal is to provide these to +100 babies located in the communities of Santa Ana and Felipillo, two of the most at-risk-zones in Panama City.
More than 31% of all living births in Panama are from a teen mother. Babies born from teen mothers living in poverty face multiple challenges, which often set a newborn child on a life-long course of disparities in health. This social realities have consistently been found to be a powerful determinant of delayed cognitive development and poor school performance. Without proper care, bonds, and development, these babies are destined to perpetuate the cycles of poverty in which they are born.
At Vital Voices Panama, we created the Las Claras program which allows teen mothers to recover, graduate from school and achieve their life projects, securing a better quality of life for their families. Alternatively, within the program we also strive to give proper care (stimulation, and cognitive development), access to necessary medical services, and development of bonds between mother and child in order for them to gain enough tools to maintain through time continual positive growth.
Vital Voices Panama will create new life conditions for babies born from teen mothers living in poverty. We will not only secure better life conditions for the mother, but also create fertile conditions for their babies to grow, stay healthy, and live in supportive environments, leading to a complete social transformation. Our goal is for them to break the cycles of poverty, violence and early pregnancy characteristic of these vulnerable communities.
