Caregivers can avert social ills—NGO
Chisomo Children’s Club executive director Maggie Crewes has said the country needs more skilled caregivers in community-based childcare centres (CBCCs) to promote the Early Childhood Development (ECD) agenda.
Crewe was speaking in Likuni, Lilongwe, on Thursday at the close of a two-week training of trainers for 20 caregivers drawn from peri-urban locations of M’gona, Ngomani, Chimoka, Mphandamadzi and Chifumbe.
She said they targeted the peri-urban centres of the city “because they are usually neglected in many social development projects.
“What we are saying is that these caregivers, just by virtue of their roles, are the custodian of the calibre of societies we have today and that we can have tomorrow. Many social ills can be averted if children are well-tendered hence, the training,” Crewes said.
Her sentiments follow reports by the Department of Social Welfare that many children patronise audiovisual joints in such locations; a trend the department said tends to corrupt their minds.
The department’s Edgar Kasiyafumbi agreed with Crewes in an interview that most crimes committed by juveniles are linked to their upbringing.
One of the participants, Gertrude Phiri from Ngomani CBCC, hailed the training, saying the skills acquired will help them to handle children professionally.
The training was part of Chisomo Children’s Club Psychosocial Project which is funded by the Norwegian Church Aid
