Strengthening Parenting For Early Childhood Development In Namibia

Amidst the hardships of living in informal settlements, where poverty cycles persist, parents frequently encounter challenges when it comes to the development of their children, especially during the early years when it is most vital. This is often due to demanding work hours, unemployment and unsafe living conditions. These circumstances contribute to stress and harmful parenting mechanisms, fuelled by societal norms endorsing the belief that physical discipline is the sole means of ensuring that children become productive members of society. Parents shape their children’s development. Loving, nurturing and stimulating parenting helps to ensure that children have the best start in life and supports optimal holistic development.

In the Namibian context, parents face immense strain. Rapid urbanisation has led to a loss of community and extended family support, often leaving parents to persist with conflicting and ineffective parenting methods. Stressors like poverty, inequality, long workdays, inadequate childcare and a lack of meaningful support further compound the challenges parents navigate in raising their children. The prevalent lack of awareness about early childhood development (ECD) exacerbates the situation, leaving parents ill-equipped to support their children’s holistic development. Namibia, a post-conflict, post-apartheid and highly patriarchal society, grapples with epidemic levels of violence across homes, schools and communities. The 2019 Violence Against Children Study, conducted by the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare and UNICEF in Namibia found that 32.9% of females and 41.2% of males experienced physical violence before the age of 18. Furthermore, 23.8% of females and 22.6% of males aged 13-18 experienced physical violence by a parent, primary caregiver or other adult relative. The study also found that 11.8% of females and 7.3% of males experienced sexual violence while under 18. Of these, 71.3% of females and 77.6% of males experienced multiple incidents of sexual violence before the age of 18. Among females, 26.2% of assaults were perpetrated by a family member (MGEPESW & UNICEF, 2019).

Most resources for parents focus on providing them with information and tips on how to best support their child’s development, through the lens of what is best for the child. While this is a vitally important component of nurturing care, there are fewer resources and interventions that focus on parental wellbeing, ensuring that parents are in a position to be able to absorb and implement guidance on how best to care for children.

Development Workshop Namibia (DWN) has undertaken an initiative to break the cycle through the implementation of parental workshops. Conducted nationwide since 2021, these workshops, numbering 382 to date, aim to educate parents on the significance of ECD. Trained community members, known as ECD champions, facilitate these workshops. One notable example is 40-year-old Filippus Shambwangala, an elected community leader who underwent the DWN Training of Trainers (ToT) programme.

During these workshops, Shambwangala and others engage parents in discussions on positive discipline, co-parenting and where to seek help in cases of abuse. “It’s a space where knowledge, ideas and skills are shared. During these communal meeting-style workshops, there is a sense of community where everyone is welcome. People feel free to share their challenges about being a parent,” says Shambwangala. “ECD is the foundation on which a child is built, and all we need to do is invest our time and efforts into shaping children from a young age to ensure that they have a bright future.” He believes this investment will yield a generation marked by reduced dropout rates, fewer criminal cases, lower abuse statistics and less teenage pregnancies. The ripple effect is cultivating wellrounded adults with high emotional intelligence, contributing to a more robust economy.

For Shambwangala, these workshops are not just educational sessions but a personal growth journey. “The training has helped me improve as a father myself,” he shares, adding that he emphasises the father’s role to participants during the workshops. “I also acquired professional skills such as speaking on the radio. My facilitation and public speaking skills have improved in the process.”

“ECD is the foundation of a human being, yet some parents have never heard of the concept and don’t realise its importance,” Shambwangala says. The workshops provide a platform to educate parents about the importance of the first six years of a child’s life and how that is directly linked to the type of adult they will become. “I see the impact of the workshops as long-term behavioural change, so I am really excited to inform parents about the benefits of ECD and also to reinforce these important messages,” highlights Shambwangala.

The impact resonates beyond mere individuals. Parents leave the workshops with information booklets, children’s reading material and a renewed perspective on parenting. As these new insights permeate the community, the workshops become catalysts for change, facilitating a cultural shift towards responsive and gentle parenting.

Jessica Brown