|
| |
|
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, DECEMBER 1997
What does it mean to rebuild Community around children?
Communities may evolve or be formed for different reasons, but whatever the
reasons, the purpose of a community is to serve human needs. Normally, the
parameters in which a community is formed will be such that the community
will contain people who have differences on at least one level, be it age,
nationality, ideology, culture or profession. On the other hand, it is also
true that all these differences can be transcended by acknowledging the common
denominator of the human worth of every individual. This is the foundation
upon which the real strength of the community can be rebuilt creating the
environment for children to be cared for and loved.
The first community that the child is exposed to is the home in which the
role of parenting is pivotal. Care begins from conception and continues
throughout the various stages of growth and development. From 0-5, children
are mostly in contact with parents, siblings, caregivers and health facilitators.
During this period, the child is most vulnerable and is exposed to influences
from individuals with whom they interact intimately. The child responds to
and molds his/her personality to the emotional and mental mind sets, attitudes
and behaviors of those around them. The quality of the home environment is
what determines the confidence, capacity and cognitive abilities in the initial
stages of personal development. A foundation of values and principles should
not be left to the mercy of television, movies and other such influences.
Empowerment of the child comes from the inner strength of the parent/caregiver
and the early years of development calls for personal commitment to the child's
overall well-being.
The second community is the school and educators are being called upon to facilitate
lifelong learning from pre-school onwards. The process of lifelong learning
involves a close working partnership of parents, caregivers, educators as well
as other stakeholders. Within the area of evaluating students, careful attention
should be paid to the transitional points in the child’s process of growth --
from home to pre-school, from pre-school to primary, from primary to secondary,
from secondary to tertiary.
To complement the home and school communities, the community at large needs to
provide holistic services such as welfare, nutrition, health, education and
other social services. The policy, strategy and planning of programs must be
holistic from the very inception and their principles should include the cooperation
with and, support for community-based organizations. This will facilitate, coordinate
and, mobilize leadership, involvement and participation of people at the grassroots
level. Allocated resources from the various donors should be appropriately and
equitably invested in the various areas to facilitate the overall development of
the child. This would eliminate duplications and help facilitate resources being
used in a worthwhile way.
Why are we doing what we are doing?
The next paradigm of development is not just sustainable human development but
spiritual development as the spirit is the core of our being and nothing will
change for long unless that changes. The highest values, such as love, justice,
compassion and peace, are the most universal ones for they are spiritual values
and spirituality is a universal phenomenon.
The holistic approach to rebuilding community calls for putting children at the
center of its development. Health, nutrition and education are important factors
in the formative years of a child’s life. The Brahma Kumaris Worldwide are working
in partnership with global educators, parents and, caregivers to look at education
as providing children with a philosophy of living, thereby facilitating their
overall growth, development and choices so that they may integrate themselves into
the community with respect, confidence and purpose. There is special emphasis on
children-at-risk in the inner cities, and programs to help eradicate violence, drugs
and crime. In refugee camps children are unable to heal physically because of the
grief that overpowers them; special skills and approaches have been developed which
aim at helping children to heal these inner wounds.
Lifestyle has always been an area where the Brahma Kumaris have been active. Using
the Mother and Child Care program of WHO to bring health and hope to the poor people
of the villages in India has brought rewarding results to many. Largely uneducated
and illiterate, the natives live in a time-warp, unaware of the importance of
personal and social hygiene, basic immunization and other precautionary health
measures that we recognize as basic human needs. Too poor in any event to afford
prevention or cure, their lives are often plagued by health problems that could
be resolved at a relatively low cost.
How do we do what we are doing?
*this part on of the paper on LVEP was updated (March 2004)
There are two main areas in which we work for the welfare of children: Education
and Health.
Education Living Values: An Educational Program (LVEP)
grew out of an international project begun
in 1995 by the Brahma Kumaris to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations.
Called Sharing Our Values for a Better World, this project focused on 12 universal values.
The theme -- adopted from a tenet in the Preamble of the United Nations’ Charter -- was
"To reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person ...."
Living Values: A Guidebook
was created as part of the Sharing Our Values for a Better World Project.
The guidebook -- which provided value statements on the 12 core values, offered an individual
perspective for creating and sustaining positive change, and included facilitated group workshops
and activities -- contained a small section of values activities for students in the classroom.
That sketchy classroom curriculum became the inspiration and impetus for Living Values:
An Education Initiative (LVEI).
Living Values: An Education Initiative (LVEI) was born when twenty educators from around
the world gathered at UNICEF Headquarters in New York City in August of 1996 to discuss
the needs of children, their experiences of working with values, and how educators can
integrate values to better prepare students for lifelong learning. Using Living Values:
A Guidebook and the Convention on the Rights of the Child" as a framework, the global
educators identified and agreed upon the purpose and aims of values-based education
worldwide -- in both developed and developing countries.
Living Values Educators’ Kit became available for piloting in March of 1997, and by
late Spring that year was being piloted at 220 sites in over 40 countries. It is currently
in 66 countries, and activities have extended to over 4000 sites.
Health The Mother and Child care project serve the 3 basic pillars of the
Mother and
Baby Package of WHO: Ante-natal care, Clean/Safe delivery training and,
Information on Family Welfare. This program is very popular as a village
outreach program in Mount Abu, India among the area’s 55,000 tribal people.
The Brahma Kumaris are planning to expand this outreach program through
their Health and Medical Section throughout India.
Obstacles encountered:
Within the education program, values are still a new area for teachers,
facilitators and parents. Even though there is the general recognition for
a values-based approach to learning and to include new skills, pedagogical
approaches and training programs, the main obstacles encountered are time,
human and financial resources. However, because the need to expose the children
to better lifestyles and to enhance their capacity to learn, the Living Values
pilot program is progressing at a rapid pace.
Working on health issues, especially in the villages the question is always the
funding of the outreach programs so as to make basic health and nutrition necessities
available free of charge. The challenge is also how to train parents and caregivers
to take proper care of the children and of themselves. When the mother’s health
is neglected, this affects the health of the children.
Even though the progress seems a bit slow because of the inevitable obstacles,
the steady progress is notable with changes seen in people’s lives and communities.
What are the ethics, values, principles and resources involved?
As the world becomes a global village, and people have begun to see
themselves as global citizens, a change has also come about with regard
to development thinking. An approach that often seemed to equate an increase
in financial resources with greater well-being has given way to an understanding
of progress known as sustainable human development. This concept acknowledges
that people require or aspire to the fulfillment of a variety of needs, rights
and hopes that are not just economic in nature but also include social, gender-based,
environmental, health, mental, moral and spiritual concerns. The continuum of
major conferences held during this decade has documented resources that show a
definite shift in the order of global priorities.
Any community that is to survive and flourish in the 21st century must respond
to the needs of its members as human beings. A community which fails to take
account of its children and young adults will eventually defeat its own purposes
and, rather than progress and growth, will suffer disintegration. The time
is now to put our children first.
|
|
|
©2004 BKWSU |
