Saturday 18 October 2014

New Book 'Kholo La Ngwiro' To Support Govt Efforts On Parenting

Ebba Gondwe shaking hands with McKnight Kalanda















The Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare says the new book Kholo La Ngwiro will go a long way in supporting the ministry's efforts on its programmes that targets parents.

Kholo La Ngwiro a Chichewa Book authored by Ebba Eunice Gondwe, is a Kachere Series Publication which focuses on parenting.

It was written following a strong conviction that something has to be done to address a number of societal upheavals facing communities in Malawi more especially on meaningful flow of information on parenthood among semi-literate majority of Malawians who fail to access valuable information on parenting.

According to Director for Children Development and Social Welfare in the Ministry of Gender Mr. McKnight Kalanda Kholo La Ngwiro is a very important and relevant book because it is promoting positive parenting from a Malawian point of experience by a Malawian and being a Chichewa book adds its relevance in communication of the contents of the book to the rural families.

Kalanda said Ministry of Gender run a number of programmes that are also pushing the same agenda covered in Kholo La Ngwiro book.

"We have programmes like Early Childhood Development and Adult Literacy. For example within the early Childhood Development programme we have Parenting, Education and Skills. This book will help us to promote some of the positive attitudes that we would want to promote in parents" he said

"Alongside that we have other programmes like adult literacy programme. Within that programme, once the learners have completed their course they need what we call post literacy materials, but these post literacy materials needs to be relevant to issues of day to day living. Parenting is an issue which needs to be properly supported so this book will go along way in supporting those two programmes."

In an interview the author for the book Ebba Gondwe said the book contains several issues from her own experience as a woman who is in marriage for over 30 years and as a mother who went through mixed moments of raising her children's and would like to share those experiences with other parents on how they can become good parents.

She said the book has potential to address some of the primitive parenting methods arising from parenting without solid, sound knowledge and timely guidance to children that have among others led to high population growth and failing marriages.

She added that the book is encouraging creativity and innovation as part of child upbringing and will bring forth a self reliant nation and individuals.

She said "When I look around me I see so many flaws of how mothers raise their children, our children are just left unattended and cared for. And worse still we don't apply values to them and the result we see so many children around misbehaving and losing it all, yet as a growing Malawian I know who I was and what we were earlier on."

According to the author, through the information in the book, Rural women will have relevant information on how they can improve their understanding of their children and husbands so that they can support them in order to raise responsible citizens for Malawi.

"Families will raise a truly God-fearing nation, free from corruption and the dysfunction of nepotism including collective responsibility of caring of the plight of the less privileged in rural areas." She added

On her choice to write the book in Chichewa, Gondwe said this was to ensure that every Malawian is able to understand information contained in the book

"I want every Malawian to have this information because a lot of mothers doesn't have ideas on how they can parent children correctly."

Kholo La Ngwiro book which was launched in Lilongwe in the evening hours of Mothers Day, Wednesday 15th October is among others covering wide range of topics including solutions to marriages on the verge to collapse, helping those preparing for marriage, grandparents issues and other issues faced in churches, teaching organisations and NGOs.

The author Ebba Gondwe the Executive Secretary of Mothers Support Initiative Trust(MOSIT) is married to Acting Clerk of Parliament, Roosevelt Gondwe.

No comments:

Post a Comment