Group Supporting Parenting turns Father into a Great Mom: The Story of Peter and Baby Sharon

By Charlotte Muhwezi

A walk through a long narrow road with hardly houses in sight leads me to one of those rare people to find; a father raising his children alone. The distance from the main road to his house is so far that I keep wondering if the person I am going to meet is indeed as peculiar as described by those that know him.

When I finally get to his home, I meet a tall slender gentleman who warmly welcomes me. With him are two young beautiful girls who happen to be his daughters. Peter Tebandeke is a father and mother to both Sharon Nakagondo, aged 3 and Harriet Nasuna, aged 10. He also lives with his sister Kevina whom he has been supporting. When I prompted to know the whereabouts of the mother of his children, I am saddened to hear that she had passed on about three years earlier, leaving him with both children, the youngest being 6months old at the time.“I did not know how I was going to handle a 6months old baby”, Peter began, “she was very fragile because she had been born under-weight at just 1kg and suffered frequently from malaria”he explained. With so much disperation and agony, Peter started looking around for help. He was lost for ideas on how to better bring up his children, especially baby Sharon. It was then that he met Rose Nakyagaba a Village Health Team that helped by connecting him to people that would solve his problem. This was a group on positive parenting started by World Vision Uganda in Kiboga district, South Western Uganda.

Positive parenting is a child health model (Under WV Health programs)where parents come together with a sole purpose of  ensuring that their children enjoy good health. They do this through meeting to share ideas and experiences. The group comprises of breastfeeding and lactating mothers, experienced mothers and  a VHT who is the group leader and moderator. The main problem before has been lack of knowledge on better parenting and childcare skills. Many parents had challenges at home ranging from healthy feeding, nurturing children, Immunization and mother child health care, education among others. World Vision thus brought Positive parenting to create a platform for parents to learn from one another, especially the role models.

In the group, Peter was able to share his challenges of raising his little daughters  single handedly as a widower. And thankfully, the other members who are experienced mothers  advised him and encouraged him on what to do. It is during such positive parenting meetings that a lot of relevant parenting topics are discussed ranging from PD-Herth sessions (aspects of nuntrition), Antenatal visits and Immunization and Post-natal care. They also cover exclusive breastfeeding ,balanced diet,Hygiene and Sanitation.Then they move on to other areas such as peer-to-peer learning, saving schemes,  farming and also supporting each other emotionally and spiritually.This  group of mothers find counsel within themselves and  in each other’s lives. They encourage each other and share ideas depending on the day’s topic of discussion. This has helped many of them to know how to go about issues they would never have managed to struggle through.

So from the time Peter joined this group, he started taking his daughter for immunization which he had not done in the past.He began to feed her on the right food and his children began to change for the better. He said he could visibly see the change in the children as Sharon put on more weight and looked healthy.  “If it wasn’t for the ideas and encouragement I got through the positive parenting group, my daughter Sharon would probably be dead by now. I pray that she turns out to be a doctor so that she can save the lives of children that are in a situation that she was in” said Peter.“

Many parents have benefited from this group and Peter is just one among many. Marriages have also been mended and strengthened by this project since parents share ideas and encouragement, one to another. “The exciting thing is that, many children have accessed better health care, more are now in school and families are living happily all because of the positive parenting group” explained  Rose a VHT, with excitement. In addition, this Positive parenting model,  is  making a huge contribution to the reduction of millions of potential infant deaths in the region. Looking at Sharon, one can confirm that the group has played  a tremendous role in her upbringing despite the fact that  she is without a mother.

The parenting model is now working steering the group to champion better access and utilization of health services, as well as better family relationships in the Kimu ADP community, all  aimed at better wellbeing ,growth and development of children. So far there area has about 21 number of such groups. With this kind of intervention, many families are going to be re-conciled and children are going to be nurtured in all aspects of life ranging from Health, education among other things.