Mai from rural Vietnam, Naresh from Hyderabad in India, Alexia from the rainforests of Peru and Elene from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, are aged between 8 and 10. Their real-life stories are told through four short films in this pack. The similarities and differences between their lives and those of UK pupils are explored via a range of activities.

Women and the poor are disproportionately affected by common mental disorders (CMD), and women in low income countries are particularly at risk. Social capital may explain some of the geographical variation in CMD, but the association between social capital and CMD in low income countries has rarely been studied. This paper aims to explore the relationship between individual and ecological measures of social capital and maternal CMD in four low income countries.

Many children younger than 5 years in developing countries are exposed to multiple risks, including poverty, malnutrition, poor health, and unstimulating home environments, which detrimentally aff ect their cognitive, motor, and socialemotional development. There are few national statistics on the development of young children in developing countries. We therefore identifi ed two factors with available worldwide data?the prevalence of early childhood stunting and the number of people living in absolute poverty—to use as indicators of poor development.

This paper presents a case study to illustrate the range of decisions involved in designing a sampling strategy for a complex, longitudinal research study. It is based on experience from the Young Lives project and identifies the approaches used to sample children for longitudinal follow-up in four less developed countries (LDCs). The rationale for decisions made and the resulting benefits, and limitations, of the approaches adopted are discussed.