It is cool in the shade of the large trees. The thirty men and women of the Chawaza Parenting Group start the meeting with dance and song: “When you say man, you can also say woman.” Right off the bat, they sing a song that underlines the importance of parents working together. There is laughter when the group members give each other a hug during one of the sentences of the song: “Man and woman both do their work and when they’re back home they hug each other”
very Monday the group meets here. “We do not want to forget what we have learned”, an older lady proclaims. These men and women demonstrate great motivation! Does this imply the group has learned very valuable lessons? It sure does. A father explains, “We are closer as a family. We talk more with our children and our marriages are improving. We are more connected with each other than ever before.” The parent training has several modules. Today’s module deals with the growth of children. The trainer of the group asks how children can grow. “Give them age appropriate food” says one of the mothers. “Until the child is two years old they need porridge and breast milk. After that they can also eat fruit and nshima.” Someone else adds, “By giving the right example. Children mimic what they see us do, so we have to model the way.” A father addresses the importance of schooling for toddlers and preschoolers: “This helps to develop their brains, and they can start to learn what it is like to go to elementary school.”
Much of this seems trivial knowledge, but to the parents of the Parenting Group it has made a world of difference. Because of poverty, there was a lack of focus on the children and more on survival. The answer to the question “what is the most important lesson of the training?” confirms this: “Our heart for the children has changed. We wake up early, bathe our children and give them food to eat before we head to the fields to work. In the past we would leave the children to themselves, and they would go to school without a bath or food.” Another important result of the training is awareness of the need for family planning. One of the men says, “We now all understand how important this is; we used to think this was just for the women to deal with. Now I know this is also my responsibility. When you have a lot of children, it is impossible to give all of them proper care, sufficient food, attention and schooling.”
The group points out the youngest couple as a great example. “Their child needs to have no concerns about where his father or mother are at. He is receiving their undivided attention and he is a healthy and happy baby. We did not know that care for a child begins in the womb, but now we know. And you can tell by looking at this couple.” The older couples in the group agree that this is a special family. “Because they became aware about family planning, they have the time to contribute to the development of the village and community. If we all manage to do this, we can conquer poverty.”