More than 30 parents, child caregivers and educare teachers are participating in a four-day parental training at Eastridge community health centre.
During the training parents and caregivers realised how valued and important they were in cultivating the spirit of love among children and the community they grow up in.
These were the sentiments shared during the first part of a four-day parental training workshop, which started on Friday March 9.
The training is endorsed by Grassroots and will be funded by United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the Department of Social Development (DSD) and the National Early Childhood Development Alliance (NECDA).
Facilitator Karrimah Jacobs said self worth was important in being able to share values, love and encouragement.
“We (parents, teachers and caregivers) give our lives to our families but today participants realised ‘I am someone’,” she said.
The first session had participants, most of whom were parents, introduce themselves – as the caregiver.
They are due to complete 11 modules, including healthy family relationships; health and nutrition; play and creativity; physical, social and emotional development; confidence building, intellectual and language stimulation; child safety and protection; positive discipline, grief and bereavement; holistically on children’s rights by Monday March 19.
Mareldia Tape, director of Grassroots, based in Athlone, said as a senior organisation in the field
of early childhood development (ECD) on the Cape Flats, they have worked alongside Unicef to improve the lives of children and their families.
“We are a service provider and an organisation that trains parents, teachers, grandparents and caregivers, wherever you may find people working with children,” she said.
Ms Tape said there were several children, who were not in ECD centres and to address this, workshops had been developed to educate parents and help them understand the importance of ECD.
The Unicef programme was developed in partnership with the Department of Social Development.
On completion, participants will receive accredited certificates.