Child Friendly Homes in Emergency Situations

Sri Lanka

Sarvodaya Child Development Unit Amara Amarasinghe

Malani Balasuriya

Programme for Internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sri Lanka after 30 years of armed conflict ...

Implemented by: Sarvodaya Child Development Unit Sponsored by: UNICEF Resource Family Health Bureau National Institute of Education

People fled to safe areas leaving their belongings ...

Thousands and thousands, they all came seeking survival and protection ...

Settled in temporary dwellings in seven zones comprising of Relief Villages in “Manik Farm” Each relief village consist of blocks from A …… on wards. There are about 25 – 125 families in each block.

Nearly 300,000 people in all … Children about 60,000 of which

•0-3 year olds about 10,000 •3-5 year olds about 15,000

Emphasis not laid on cognitive, psycho-social and emotional development of 0-5 year old children, which is the most critical period in a child’s life.

Severely ignored were the Children from 0-3 years until the programme was introduced.

Most neglected areas...

Problems Encountered Hardly any communication between children and adults. Children not allowed to have social interaction with peers. Parents are frustrated, some are traumatized and

disoriented in unfamiliar surroundings. Parents abuse children – yell, beat, punish sometimes

severely. The parents were not in a state of mind to attend to

learning needs of children. Single parent families. Fathers disrupt family life after excessive alcohol use. Disharmony at the slightest provocation among families. Volunteer Facilitators were rejected by parents

Objectives Restore the role of parents as first teachers and change

attitudes towards children. Empower parents to use the immediate environment

as resources for Child Development. Make children competent at the age of 5 years to enter

primary school. Involve parents, community and children in activities

together, to acquire psychosocial benefits for all making the environment more friendly for children.

Resources mapped Competent IDPs were available in the community

could be trained as facilitators. Parents or an adult continuously stayed with children. Statistics available at the coordinating office of each

relief village from the “Grama Niladari” (village head) Households were numbered methodically. Availability of a public address system. Normal household activities took place with an

abundance of learning opportunities.

Learning opportunities in the home and in the immediate environment for child development were identified

Facilities available which provided learning opportunities. •Health and Sanitation facilities •Feeding Centres •Counselling Centres •Pre-schools for some 3-5 year olds • Community cooking kitchen •Formal schools •Recreational activities •Mobile Library (Sarvodaya) •Mobile Clinic (Sarvodaya) •Boutiques •Saloons

The Process

•Back ground study •Training of trainers •Training of facilitators •Individual and group discussions • Regular monitoring • Review Meetings •Refresher training

Volunteer Facilitators

Facilitators provided with an educational kit and a monthly incentive. They assisted the health and nutrition programme for 0-5 year Children

run by Sarvodaya and Unicef by screening, identifying undernourished and by providing nutritious meals for the needy.

Facilitators Kit-in a bag: •Lists of age appropriate activities specific for the five age groups. •Illustrative activity cards with learning opportunities. •Note book •Leaflets for parents. • Posters. •Story books. •Stationary. •Umbrella.

Content of the facilitator training Introduction of the programme Living conditions of children of the village Objective of the programme Implementation structure of the programme Responsibilities and duties of stakeholders Stages of child development and appropriate

activities How children learn and brain development Use of materials Monitoring and maintaining records Communication strategies

The programme was inaugurated on a Hindu religious day – ‘Deepavali’ to create a feeling of normalcy.

This religious activity made the atmosphere more familiar and friendly developing a relaxed mentality among the parents.

The operation Facilitators were allocated a cluster of households each. They appointed a group leader for each block. Each facilitator had a specific duty to perform. The facilitators met parents during the five days of the

week, allocating one day for each age group. The group met to share there experiences Review meeting held by implementations Needs analysed and refresher training conducted Personalized attention paid to children with special

abilities.

• Material for drawing and creative activities Material for finger dexterity Mats Leaflets for parents Posters

Material provided Play material Story Books Instructive material Learning material for

mathematics

Interaction with peers Storytelling by parents : Story telling for groups of children made way for communication and social interaction with peers.

` Parents encouraged children in the neighbourhood to sing and dance together developing a cordial relationship between families.

Facilitator s introduced different kids of games to be played with a ball provided to the Children. Parents too used traditional games to interact with the Children.

Parents Participation

“The most precious item my child owns now is the ball she got” _ A comment from a parent

Learning opportunities discussed using a drawings of their environment and messages for parents.

“This is my cat He went to work . To catch fish We cut fish into small pieces ,Cook in a pot”

Children drew pictures and explained to parents about what they meant. Parents were happy to notice the children’s creative ability and language development.

These drawings were then displayed in their dwellings.

Fathers in action

Mathematical concepts developed through activities using natural resources.

While cooking the mother is promoting the child to talk about the size of firewood and many more relating to mathematical and language development.

Methods of Monitoring

Visits homes to have focus group discussions to asses the impact and identify the needs to prepare refresher training programmes

• Attendance registers • Focus group

discussions with parents and facilitators

• Through facilitators records and notes books

Facilitator’s records

Block No

House No.

Name of

Child

Name of Parent(s)

Problem Encountered

Instructions Follw-ups

Date: xxxxx Issue: xxxxx

Date: xxxxx Instructions: xxxxx

Review Meetings

Impact of the programme Some comments from parents: “ Now I think twice before punishing or beating my child” “ When I have a dialogue with my child I realized how

knowledgeable my child is.” “After learning about brain development I know that my child is

learning all the time and the whole day through.” “My child can repeat stories that I relate and also create stories.” “ I realized that every activity at home is a learning situation.” We thought that children learn only at schools. We forget our grievances when these sisters come to talk about our

children. “ Now I observe my child and try to understand his nature.”

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Implementers view The parents have realized that they have the confidence in being

the first teachers of their children and develop their competence. Strengthening of family bonds and improved social harmony

among family groups. Noticeable changes in the parents behaviours with regards to

how they interact with their children and discipline them. The behaviour changes in the parents display that they will

continue their interactions with children wherever they are. They are more sensitive to the learning needs of the children

that they requested the session on brain development of the children to be conducted for the fathers and pre-school teachers.

The enthusiasm generated showed very clear signs of perpetuation of the programme as explicitly

envisioned by the parents.

“The architects of “ A child friendly home”

are the parents.

Amara Amarasinghe Malani Balasuriya Child Development Unit Sarvodaya

Email: ecdu@sarvodaya.org Tel: +94-11-5510221 Web: www.sarvodaya.org

Thank you !

This slide presentation was not presented at the Forum but prepared to be shared as a case study from Sri Lanka.