MODEL COUPLES SHARE EXPERIENCES AND TAKEN THROUGH POSITIVE PARENTING PRACTICES

Good Hope foundation has continued to use the model couple approach in preventing violence against children and adolescents in families. The organization identified and is working with nine (9) model couples from the two sub counties of Kisinga and Karusandara who are working as change agents in prevention of violence against children at family through influencing the parenting practices, beliefs and norms. This has been possible through organizing home visits to the most vulnerable families that expose violence against children to share with them experiences on positive parenting practices and advising them on how best they can enhance children’s parenting mainly by creating safe families where children can grow and realize their full potentials. Every couple reaches to ten (10) most vulnerable families that expose violence against children and adolescents.

On 7^th and 8^th August 2017, at Kisinga and Karusandara sub bounty headquarters, Good Hope Foundation organized a refresh training session for the nine (9 )model couples in the two sub counties of kisinga and Karusandara who were refreshed on the concept of violence against children and adolescents and the parenting practices. The refresh training session was for the purposes of refreshing the model couples on practical skills of positive parenting practices and creating a platform for the model couples to come together and share experiences on how they are managing to change and influence the parenting practices, beliefs and norms on child upbringing among their ten families for learning purposes. Members had to challenges they are facing during the home visitation exercise and forging ways on how to overcome the challenges.

During the refresher session, the model couples where taken through the concept of parenting with main focus on child upbringing. Key areas of discussion included; the definition of child upbringing, types of parenting such as; traditional, modern and integrated parenting, the right practices of upbringing children (positive child upbringing practices), the negative child practices as well as the challenges in children upbringing today 

model couples being refreshed on positive parenting practices

 

While sharing experiences, the model couples highlighted some of the key findings and some challenges they are facing in their home visitation exercise to share experiences on parenting. Key findings included; families are faced with severe hunger, poverty vulnerability among the families, high cases of domestic violence among the households visited, the visited families are also characterized with alcoholism tendencies and law education levels.

Model couples also had to share experiences on the current situation since they started having sharing visits with the selected households on child upbringing and prevention of violence against children and adolescents.

As Senga Imana Fidel a model couple in Karusandara subcounty shared with us during the experience sharing meeting that “at first during my first visit to the family of Murugahara Paul of Kivengenyi village Karusandara sub county when I had a meeting with the family members, one child told me that his father beats him a lot and then I shared with the family on how it’s not good to beat children as it affects the child’s growth and mental abilities, I discussed with him some alternative methods of correcting and punishing children including giving them educative work appropriate to their age. After the discussion, the parents admitted to have been using beating as the only form of punishing and they said they will adopt and start using other methods of punishing children. When I went back children shared with me that they are no longer being beaten by the parents and parents thanked me for sharing with them the different methods of punishing children and that the alternative punishments even work well than the beating. After giving them the punishment, they even go ahead to explain to them why they have given them such punishment. This makes children to love their parents and also to easily change their characters”.

model couples sharing experiences on positive parenting

At first before I visited the family of Idi of Kabaka village Karusandara sub county, they used to share their room with the children, I shared with the parents on the effect of parents sharing room with their children especially on how it increases the risk of children to be violated sexually and the risk of children to engage in harmful acts as they try imitate the parent’s actions. At the end of the sharing, we agreed with the family to have their rooms separated from that of the children, when I went back for follow up I found out that children no longer share the same room with their parents and this has reduced violence against children and reducing their risk to be violated and engaging in harmful acts. Reported by Dizimana Emmanuel a model couple 

As david Kaheru a modal couple in Kisinga shared with the members during the sharing meeting that one family of Mr. Alex Mugisha a native of Rwnaguhya-Kisinga town council which i visited, there was an issue where female children were not taken to school and that the parents had become demoralized on parenting of their children because of the bad characters of their children. The parents shared with me that regardless of their efforts to ensure that children attain school and grow as responsible children, 3 of their girls have been impregnated at early age when in school, 2 of their children also are at home with children and this demoralized the parents from continuing educating other female children. So as a model couple I shared with the family members that sometime we fail because of lack of corporation with the children and that there is need to treat all children equally and that to solve all these issues in their family they should create love to their children and to always involve their children in family’s meetings and listen to their views such that they can be in position to detect what children pass through and what they are likely to face when its early. I shared with them that the past should not demoralize them and that them producing does not mean it’s the end of their future they can still return in school and complete it. I advised them to continue fulfilling their duty and responsibility towards all children.  I was happy when I went back for another visit, the parents had realized the value of having meetings with their children, and the value of educating all children. They had had one family meeting already, the two children who had dropped out of school have been enrolled again in school one of 13 years at kisinga vocation and the other of 10 years at kisinga primary school and they now show love to their children.

sharing success stories from the family outreaches