Last week, under the shade of a large tree behind the sector administration offices in the rural village of Nduba, many parents, grandparents and interested community members gathered to discuss parent-teacher relationships and how best to support their children in their educational endeavours. Many chose to walk up to ten kilometres just so they could attend the meeting.

As happens with all of our community parenting meetings, the local Parent Teacher Association representatives led the meeting after having being trained on the topic by Wellspring’s Parenting Trainer, Jeanne Tuyisenge, in workshops before Christmas. They spoke of ensuring that children were actually attending school when they left home in the morning. Parents were told the importance of asking their children what they had learned at school that day and being concerned about more than just the blue and red marks on the report cards received at the end of each term.

125 parents, grandparents and community members attended a recent meeting in Nduba

At one point, a question was asked of those in attendance: “How many of you knew who your child’s teacher was last school year?” Of the 125 people in attendance, only four people raised their hands. This is a telling statistic that reminds us that we are doing important work.

These parents even explored a topic that until now has been largely taboo. While it has become more commonplace in recent years in North America to blow the whistle on sexual abuse, that is not always the case here in Africa. On occasion, one might hear a story of parents ignoring the rape of their daughter by a relative or neighbor because they do not want to create conflict within the community. One mother told the story of another mother who never felt comfortable leaving her children at home because she was afraid that the children’s father might abuse his own children. Parents and community members being willing to talk about the topic is the first stage in being able to combat the code of silence.

Jeanne Tuyisenge addresses the crowd regarding the difficult topic of sexual abuse

While we aim to continue to make contact with our parent leaders even after this phase is complete, the intensity will not be quite the same. It is our hope that parents and other community members will realize that they themselves have the capacity to organize meetings, work together, and come up with solutions for their own unique issues.

Near the end of the meeting, an older man at the back of the audience implored his fellow community members that meetings such as this must continue even if Wellspring has not organized them. Music to our ears!