Visit by ELRU and Jim Joel to new FCM program

We always treasure an opportunity to show others where we work, especially those that we value and look up to, so the visit by ELRU staff and Giuliana of Jim Joel was a treat.
We drove in to Enkanini area of Khayelitsha, where ELRU’s Family and Community Motivator program will be piloted. Our staff are very excited about this program and have spent a few months being trained and mentored by ELRU as well as researching the community and building relationships with the leaders in the area.
It was all systems go this Monday, as our fieldworkers started working with the 20 families that have been recruited. Here follows a brief summary of the FCM Program for those who are interested:
Family and Community Motivator Program Objectives
The FCM programme objectives are situated within the child rights and democratic framework and the programme aims to:
1. Raise awareness around children’s rights.
2. Support the growth and development of vulnerable children from birth to nine years by increasing access to government’s services such as child support grants, with a key focus on the under sixes in home and family settings.
3. Enhance the knowledge and skills of caregivers regarding the developmental needs of children by building on their existing belief and child-raising practices.
4. Support women and men in their role as primary caregivers and encourage men to play an active role in the lives of young children.
5. Promote the inclusion of children with disabilities, chronic illnesses, HIV and Aids and displaced or refugee children.
6. Use a rights-based approach to address the power inequalities between men and women which leave women vulnerable, sick and dying.

The Methods and Approaches of the FCM Program
This objective requires methods and approaches that:
• Locate the programme within a recognised and committed community-based consultative and management structure.
• Use a baseline survey to provide information about the child and primary caregiver needs for planning and programme design.
• Develop and implement a developmental learning programme, for the child and the caregiver, which clarifies the tasks of the primary caregivers and the tasks of the motivator, taking care to encourage resilience strategies.
• Develop a cadre of practioners with knowledge and skills in ECD and community development who are the ECD Support and Development Workers (facilitators) and the Family and Community Motivators (motivators).
• Build capacity and sustainability at all levels by using appropriate methods and materials and linking to income-generating opportunities.
• Monitor, support and evaluate the progress of the work and integrate learning from the reviews into the way forward.
• Manage conflict at all levels of the partnerships involved: community, NGOs, government and any other stakeholders.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions,

Nomzamo Landingwe