About the Book: Part 3 -
Facing the Challenges
CHAPTER 8: Nature's Demands, People's Dwellings
Families are the first to suffer the consequences of environmental
degradation and poor management of the human habitat. Soils,
savannah, forests and rivers are the foundation on which millions
of families create their livelihoods. These, and nearly all
other natural systems have deteriorated dramatically since
the early 1990s. Climate change bedevils some regions; air
pollution clouds cities; foul slum quarters menace public
health. Rapid urbanization, poor city planning, crowding and
poor housing are person-made environmental challenges to family
well-being and livelihood. The older generation tells of Nature's
bounty when they were young and the consequences of its demise.
The young speak of what they hope to save.
- Families in Mali, Missouri, Bangladesh,
Thailand, Jordan and the Brazilian Amazon speak about the
physical world in which families attempt to thrive.
CHAPTER 9: Family Health, Political Risks
Individual health improved so rapidly in the 20th Century
that on average we live seventeen years longer than our great
grandparents. Maternal mortality has declined everywhere;
childhood diseases have succumbed to vaccinations. Polio is
on the wane and small pox has been eradicated. As the new
Century opens, the diseases or unhealthy practices which remain,
which poison bodies and family relationships, are perhaps
more challenging: unwanted pregnancies result from a lack
of contraceptives or partners' refusal to permit their use;
drug, tobacco and alcohol abuse are on the rise; domestic
violence wounds bodies and psyches and the HIV infection rate
soars. In some nations public health facilities are more than
adequate and serve the needs of all citizens; in others, only
the rich can afford health services. Governments' commitment
to education, legal initiatives and investments are essential
to improving family well-being.
- Families in El Salvador, Jordan, Uganda, Mali, Thailand
and California discuss family health issues.
CHAPTER 10: Faltering Households, Families Rebuilt
Millions are the households that have become victim of forces
beyond their control, forces that destroyed any semblance
of serene family existence. Prostitute mothers, street children,
grandparents of HIV orphans and refugees from conflict or
repression are members of groups that have chosen to live
together, to form "families", in the absence of
blood relations. Driven apart by alcohol, drugs, disease,
brutality, civil disorder or, simply, intolerable poverty
they tell their stories of mutual support and caring for one
another that are testimony to the strength of families, in
whatever form they come.
- Groups in Bangladesh,
El Salvador, Thailand, Brazil, the USA and Jordan speak
of their trauma and how they have reformed caring "families".
Foreword
| Introduction | Part
1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Conclusion
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