Honorary award – 2013

Madagascar

Support to parenthood

Tags: parents, education, school.

Instead of taking families to have given up, Juana suggests to consider the hard conditions of the communities where they live.

« Parenthood is the best career because it creates the future generations and allows them to become responsible citizens. »

Juana in few words: Raised by her mom and inspired by her struggle, Juana fights for herself and for her community. After her studies as a social assistant she worked for a school which received underprivileged children. Soon she had to face a serious challenges most of them linked to the poverty: kids who were sick, kids who did not show up at school, … Juan decided to work on these problems and to collaborate with the parents for the sake of their children.

The school of life

Children’s concerns first

Instead of taking families to have given up, Juana suggests to consider the hard conditions of the communities where they live. Her action is to change the regard of those families but also the feelings they have on themselves. Giving them some self confidence and working together to get solutions, that is the main objective of the “support to parenthood” that Juana created.

Towards a “school for the parents”

All initiatives are taken to ensure the wellbeing of the kids: during the “morning talks” teachers describe the problems that students face, evening visits allow to discuss these problems with the parents. This is because Juana wants to mobilize families around education. At this end, an association of parents was created. With this association, parents express themselves and identify their weakness and strength.

Restoring the value

For Juana the school cannot just be limited to the four walls. Visit to families allow to restore the truth and to create a space for dialogue between parents and their children. Juana and her team cannot impose readymade solutions. Solutions respond to a local problem. Contacts between community members, the contexts and the questioning allow each participant to contribute to these solutions and their implementation.

In brief: At her school Juana has developed a participatory approach which is based on the wellbeing of the students. Her actions reach far beyond her school:

• creation of an association for parents
• morning talks with children
• evening visits: follow up of the parents
• creation of a structure for the follow up and the counseling of families
• job creation through collaboration with local associations

With her 25 years of age, Juana impresses by her maturity. Her energy and envy to do good things is contagious. She mobilized educators, teachers and volunteers around the common vision of her project.

[VIDEO]