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Hope for Parents and Children

Though countries around the world are in various phases of dealing with the effects of COVID-19, we continue to hear positive ways the COVID-19 Parenting Tips are making a positive impact.

As Sarah, a mother of 4 in Malawi said, “What this initiative [the tips] has done for my family is so profound. I am able to appreciate the world of children, and I think I am learning good parenting. It has also challenged me to look at this crazy time I have found myself in through the positive lens of hope.”

Hope for Parents and Children

Another caregiver in Malawi shared, “As a caregiver, it has been so difficult to balance life at home with most of my children (5) under my care. I felt drained, or forced to shout at them for the most part. These tips have been so timely, these are things we take for granted yet so helpful. I feel enlightened and I hope my parenting will change for the better.”

The Malawi office of Forgotten Voices partnered with World Without Orphans to translate the COVID-19 parenting tips into the vernacular language of Chichewa. Forgotten Voices shared the tips on Blantyre Synod Radio (BSR), with a listening audience of over 8 million, and were told it was the first time a program was made directly targeting parents, who mostly listen with their kids. They are now exploring other radio and TV stations for short spots to highlight parenting principles that work.

One of their local team members said, “As an organization, we are grateful that these tools have been so down-to-earth, as is evidenced in looking at the feedback received from not only our partners, but community leaders and/or village heads.”

The church in Malawi has shown so much resilience during this difficult time of misinformation and instability. The church has been central in reaching out to households, and networking initiatives. If the church is systematically trained, fruitful advocacy is assured for the church located throughout the country, and mostly in good standing with the community leadership. This has been the aim of Forgotten Voices-Malawi, allowing the church to do what it knows best. As one team member shared, “And we are seeing the fruit…. In the aftermath of this, it is our hope that families will be even much stronger, that every child will (fully) experience the love of God and the security of family, church and community.”

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