With the help of our gracious donors, Another Child Foundation supports a Ministry for the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Point of Hope children lovingly named Mommy School led by one of our wonderful staff members, Gabi Szabo.  The objective of Mommy school, which was kicked off in 2012, is for our staff to gain deeper understanding of the needs of mothers and the community as a whole, to encourage and positively influence the mothers, and to help them gain a non-formal education and practical life skills.

About 20-25 women meet the last Friday of every month.  Their activities include coffee time and get to know you activities; crafts and practical activities; personal care education/activities; devotions; teaching of parenting skills; fun activities like games, sports, yoga, and videos; and giving of humanitarian aid for mothers and their families.

This school year Gabi has chosen topics to discuss that have to do with better parenting and developing a good support system for the children in the family.  They talk/learn about the importance of formal education, how to use punishment and reward with their children, positive discipline, healthy life style, and personal hygiene. The women especially enjoy the special meetings celebrating Christmas, Easter, and Mother’s Day. They do crafts to go with the season or with the topics of the lesson and use role play and worksheets to help them retain information. Gabi said, “Over all we try to influence for the better the way our mothers see themselves, their abilities, and their role in the family and society.”

The impact on the women over the years has been huge!

1. The P.O.H. staff has developed a good relationship with the mothers based on trust and respect.
2. The staff has helped improve their self-image and perception of their own value. They appreciate and enjoy the time spent at POH as a time away from their hectic daily lives. They understand that the monthly meetings are time set apart for them where they are allowed to be themselves, can relax and receive encouragement. We have mothers who never miss a meeting, unless they are ill or at work.
3. The women now have the confidence to speak up and share their opinions. If at the beginning, for months in a row no one would dare to say anything in the meetings, now they feel free to speak and are not concerned about saying the wrong thing. They even joke with us and give us a hard time.
4. They have learned to smile and laugh and have fun. They don’t feel embarrassed playing silly games, but get into it, become competitive, encourage each other and laugh their heads off.
5. They are no longer afraid to try a new activity, task or craft. If at the beginning many of them would start out saying that they can’t, they now know that they can ask for help and are fully able to carry out a task.
6. Many of them have shared mistakes they made in educating their children, asked questions, and were willing to try new ways to relate to their children. They light up when they realize that they are not alone struggling with certain problems, but other mothers go through what they are going through.
7. Most importantly, they hear about God and Jesus on a regular basis!

The Women’s latest adventure was very special.  Gabi described, “At the end of April, after two other failed attempts over the last two years, we were finally able to organize our first picnic with the mothers. The previous failed attempts were due to the weather, and both years we ended up eating hot dogs at POH and doing indoor activities.  This time the weather was great, and we were able to go to a hillside above Tarnaveni where we had plenty of room to play games and enjoy nature. Only 10 mothers were able to participate due to their work schedule, but the 10 who came enjoyed every minute of the picnic, after they got over the surprise when they realized that we are not staying at POH. We understood then how much they must trust us since they got in the cars and asked no questions. We went for a walk in the woods to pick flowers.  We played games, ate a grilled lunch the men at POH prepared for us, also had a short devotional about being thankful and content with everything we have.  We played more games and shared more laughs.  We feel that it was a very successful undertaking, and judging by what one of the mothers said on the way back to POH (‘Miss Gabi, I never laughed so much. I will never forget this day!’) our precious mothers must have felt the same way.”