A kind reminder during these hard times.
For children to grow in a safe and healthy environment must be the concern of every parent. In today's world, parents find themselves overwhelmed by the fast path of life that sometimes they forgot to sit still for a moment and enjoy the little things in life like sharing a moment with their children. They are concerned about providing them with the best life possible that they overlooked being present.
The "Faith and Development" (F&D) project module, funded by World Vision, serves as a reminder for 82 parents, living in the South of Lebanon, not to neglect their children especially during the current situation Lebanon is going through. With no fuel, no electricity, lack of most medicines, food insecurity, people who lost most of their savings, the collapse of the currency and prices going over the roof, Lebanon is facing the worst eco-social crisis in its history with no solution at sight.
When she decided to move South from the urban to the rural context, Nawal had nothing but the best intentions to keep her children safe and close to her in mind. All she ever wanted was for her children to grow and become responsible adults and live a happy life. As a city girl herself, Nawal finds a big difference in raising children away from the city life and the disturbance they might come across, and into a calmer peaceful environment. It is no secret that the situation in the country left a lot of parents stressed and unsure, mother of Bryan, 17 and Anna, 13, Nawal found the sessions of great benefit, "they reminded me not be dragged by the overall situation the country is facing", she says.
Attending the remote sessions with her husband gave Nawal a new perspective on some parenting ideas she was missing, "the current circumstances we are living in make you forget the essences of parenting," Nawal explains. Besides the economic crisis, Nawal believes that quarantine reintroduced her to her children, "during quarantine, my children liked to tease me every time I feel like I am losing my nerves and remind me about the sessions". After every session, Nawal used to reflect on the topic discussed and she liked how it speaks right to her.
"Thanks to the sessions, I learned how to count to ten and remind myself every time I am angry that it is not acceptable to say everything in front of my children", she continues, "the current situation is difficult, and the sessions made me understand how to interact in front of them." Being able to control herself was a big challenge for Nawal, "I understand now that my children are also going through a lot and affected negatively by what is happening, so we learned to be more considerate and understand each other by communicating," she says.
Parents are carrying a tremendous amount of responsibilities and worries that they tend to forget how important it is not to neglect their children. Therefore, projects modules like Faith and Development are a great reminder for parents to keep looking after their children because it is their lives as well that have been changed.