National strategies needed to build strong families

Apr 20, 2014 News

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By Zena Henry
“Family is the most important institution on earth. The Creator was the One who created the concept of family and when understood, the impact of that body could change the world, for better or for worse.”

In fact, many organizations, groups and gatherings are now seeing themselves as families; even those in vicious and destructive gangs have adopted the term. However, the first family remains the most pivotal foundation of training and development, Pastor Wendell Jeffrey believes.
Pastor Jeffrey is the founder of the Practical Christianity Ministries and performs duties that provide services to ex-offenders, recovering addicts and their families.
No stranger to criminal life himself, the born-again believer in his contribution on the topic, urged that society must place much more emphasis on the development of families, since this is the first line of defence against the harms of the world.
At a public forum held last week in Jamaica, a public health official had called on his government to strengthen family life, urging that a lack of this would continue to see a decline in societal morals. Dr Michael Coombs had told the gathering that, “the breakdown of families is now being recognised and established to be a foundational cause to a lot of the problems that are faced throughout the society, not just in health, but in other social issues.”
He was adamant that, “research has confirmed that, when fathers are not involved in their families, and the families break down, those children are 11 times more likely to demonstrate violent behaviour.”
This is the same belief of Dr. Faith Harding, who earlier this week, protested at Parliament Building for more emphasis to be placed on women and family issues. She is also of the view that more needs to be done for the development of families and advocates for a national strategy to be developed on fathering.
Dr. Harding, who is also a counselor, told reporters that oftentimes, men do not fulfill their roles as fathers, leaving the woman to juggle both duties as mother and father.
“The men get away from the women, and leave them to carry the babies and produce them for these men who are not taking up the needed fathering roles. We need a national project or strategy to get them to understand their roles and responsibilities,” she protested.
Dr. Harding asserted that history has shown the necessary roles of the father and related that over time, the presence of the father in the home is on the decline.

In 2013, at a father’s forum, special guest speaker, Pastor John Smith had related that the father is the source and forwarded the four Ps; Prophet, Priest, Protector and provider path.  He had stated that fathers need to operate with a view of being effective in moulding their young to play an effective role in their contribution to society.
Pastor Jeffrey has noted however that concern must be placed on the unnecessary problems faced in families.
“People think that families should be perfect and they set out unrealistic expectations, but we have come to find out that no family is perfect. In fact, some of the most outstanding and well-known families are some of the most dysfunctional families. While the family structure is important and necessary, we need not fool ourselves that it needs to be perfect.”
What is needed, the Pastor implored, is a strategy to meaningfully empower the family. This deals specifically with re-educating families to know their individual worth and their societal value. Hence a strategy is needed for consultation, mobilizing, enabling, mediating and advocating.
“I learned so much foundational stuff from my mother.”
Explaining the absence of his father and living in what he described as a dysfunctional family, Pastor Jeffrey questioned whether he would have been more productive, or if he would not have been saved from the pitfalls encountered. He said that some persons are able to overcome challenges, while others fall victim to the world, but it is the responsibility of all to ensure the prosperity of our society, and it begins with the first family.
The Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security; Region Six Domestic Violence Centre; Region Five Sri Krishna Mandir;  Region Three NACOSA/CIOG; Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha;  Child Link Inc.; Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association; Mothers’ Union; and the Guyana Red Cross Society successfully completed a first-ever Parenting Education Workshop last year.
The Feature Address was delivered by the First Lady, Mrs. Deolatchmee Ramotar, encouraged the new Community Parenting Group to remain committed to helping parents and caregivers to extend their parenting skills, build relationships, and contribute to the stability of family life in society. She had also emphasized national strategies to ensure family development.

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