Inise (Young Mother)

As a young mother, parenting can sometimes be challenging especially when you’re a first-time parent.

Inise a resident of River Road in Nasinu was one of the participants who attended the Child Safeguarding Training that was conducted by the Collective Action to End Violence Against Children (CAEVAC) project team in October last year.

The CAEVAC project is being implemented by Save the Children Fiji supported by Save the Children New Zealand and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

With the project being implemented in 24 communities across the Central Division, the Child Safeguarding training aims to address child protection issues with locals and discuss ways of strengthening and improving child welfare.

For Inise, the one-day CSG training in her community was not just an eye-opener but an opportunity to learn about proper parenting and how to better protect children.

“It really encourages us as parents like me to learn more about the protection and safety of children. The rules regarding them. We just hear it but now we learn more in depth about child protection” she explained.

Inise highlighted the CAEVAC project team also highlighted ways in which parents can better help their children strive in their educational journey and to keep away from the wrong side of the law.

She says that many children in the area have been involved in glue sniffing due to peer pressure – an issue the young mother mentions distracts a lot of children from paving a brighter future for themselves.

“Basically, it’s the peer pressure in this area that concerns me a lot. The glue sniffing that has been happening and having the Save the Children Fiji staff here with the Police will help residents in this area realize that children need to be guided properly.”

“We need to be the protector of our children,” she said.

The first-time participant while acknowledging Save the Children Fiji for bringing such needed training to the community level also commended the CAEVAC project facilitators for being patient with them during discussions and group activities.

 “The way they taught us was simple and they used very easy terms that we could understand. That’s what I loved about this training. Some of us are not well-educated but they have explained it so well that even the young children paid attention.”

After the CSG training, Inise says she now has a clear understanding of how to speak to children including her child, and the importance of listening to children and giving them a safe space to develop mentally and physically.

The young mother hopes such training will continue into other settlements across the four divisions so that child protection is widely given prominence by everyone.