Http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/jdowd/scheper-hughes%20-%20death%20without%20weeping.pdf - Essay Example

Death without Weeping Brazil is a rapidly expanding nation in terms of infrastructure and economic growth. However, many regions in the country are still suffering the brunt of poverty. The Northeast region is one area that faces many social and developmental complications. These complications result from the rapid growth of shantytowns that come up to satisfy the emergent desires of the people. People migrate from rural areas into more established areas, leaving behind sugar plantations and farms.

The child deaths and infant mortality rates are high, and are not likely to go down soon. Children who make it past five years are at threat of passing on because of the lack of traditional methods of life. An example is the subsistence gardens that provide them with natural foodstuffs. This lacks in the shantytowns they dwell in, and without proper, stable homes, the risk is twice as much (Scheper-Hughes 324). This paper will examine the conditions in Brazil, and what steps are being undertaken to ensure the situation is rectified.

Many women in the shantytowns are forced to work for the little capital they desperately need. Their children are often too sick to accompany them to their places of work, and with the amount of money they earn; these women can hardly pay for child care (Scheper-Hughes 324). Children are often left unattended, making it even more dangerous for them in the region. During a drought after the military coup, the number of infant deaths was shocking. What made it even more surprising was the nature in which childless mothers took the deaths of their children.

It seemed like a normal thing for them to lose children, and move on, while hoping for the best (Scheper-Hughes 325). Women in the region suffer from many problems that make the loss of children a walk in the park. It is hard to lose a child, but losing them to circumstances that can be changed is intolerable. Mothers, in this Northeast part of Brazil, give in to fate when they think that their new born babies are close to death (Scheper-Hughes 325). This should not be the case for any country that is growing, especially through industrialization.

It is true that, in the Third World, women have had to nurture children in the worst conditions known to human life. Poverty and high childhood mortality rates make it difficult to raise a child into full-grown adults. Some survival strategies come into play whenever child rearing comes into play. Death in such places is common but it should not be the norm. Doctors should be present to ensure infants get the necessary attention, instead of neglect (Scheper-Hughes 328). The world is changing and it should be the place of every person to try and save the little that they might have.

Infant mortality rates must not be high in this age as they were in the pre-industrialised era. Children should get to live to see their prime years. This can be achieved by giving them the necessary care they need in order to survive the tricky years of infancy. Everyone should play a part in ensuring this is possible. This is for the betterment of all the forthcoming generations.Works CitedScheper-Hughes, Nancy. Death without Weeping: Has Poverty Ravaged Mother Love in the Shantytowns of Brazil?

California: University of California Press, 1993. Print.