The Family Preservation Program is a family-based development program implemented at the community level. It is a holistic approach to building up self-reliant families through education, instruction and behavioral change. This program is based on 8 primary areas of emphasis that help families develop the ability to be self-reliant. These 8 areas of emphasis are education, health & hygiene, food security & nutrition, sanitation, income generation, home improvement, psycho-social well-being, and community participation.
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Read about the 8 Different
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EDUCATION
The Family Preservation Program provides meaningful learning opportunities through bi-weekly classes as well as personal visits. Through these interactions the families understand and implement:
The importance of literacy, government registration, and school attendance
as well as HIV/AIDS prevention education.
Care for Life believes in the power of education and the results of the program indicate the impact it has made—each time. For instance, in Care for Life villages, the school attendance as well as adult literacy is 30% higher than the national average. Additionally, in the HIV/AIDS prevention classes young people as well as adults learn about the consequences of their choices. They come to understand and desire to make more positive choices to have a longer, healthier and happier future.
HEALTH & HYGIENE
The Family Preservation Program provides meaningful learning opportunities through bi-weekly classes as well as personal visits. Through these interactions the families understand and implement:
The importance of basic health and hygiene needs. This includes the drinking
of treated water to reduce waterborne diseases, the use of mosquito nets to prevent
malaria as well as the use of personal hygiene. In addition, the families learn the
importance of basic medical home care (especially for those afflicted with HIV/AIDS),
including visits to the health center and receiving hospital consultations.
According to the World Health Organization, diarrheal disease accounts for the deaths of 1.8 million people every year, mostly stemming from an unsafe water supply. In addition, each year, there are more than 225 million cases of malaria, killing between one and three million people. Sadly, young children in sub-Saharan Africa account for the majority of these deaths. Care for Life takes this statistic seriously and because of its teachings, the number of families now drinking treated water and using mosquito nets to prevent malaria is 60% higher than the national average.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterborne_diseases, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria
FOOD SECURITY & NUTRITION
The Family Preservation Program provides meaningful learning opportunities through bi-weekly classes as well as personal visits. Through these interactions the families understand and implement:
The importance of proper nutrition as well as establishing ways to procure
a variety of foods through planting a garden.
Many poverty-stricken families lack the ability to eat more than one meal a day. Through planting their own garden and learning the nutritious value of plants and trees native to the area, families are able to diversify their meals. They also feel a greater sense of accomplishment and a continued desire to maintain their gardens to nourish their families. In Care for Life villages, families no longer feel the need to "compete to deserve" the food donations from other non-profit organizations—they are able to feed themselves and their families with a garden they learned to plant themselves.
SANITATION
The Family Preservation Program provides meaningful learning opportunities through bi-weekly classes as well as personal visits. Through these interactions the families understand and implement:
The importance of sanitation. This includes the proper use of a latrine and a washroom,
cleanliness of their property (including burning garbage and removing stagnant
water and weeds), and the proper housing of domesticated animals.
Diseases such as cholera and diarrhea are caused by the lack of proper sanitation and this problem is exacerbated during the rainy season. The use of latrines in Care for Life's villages is 40% higher than the national average.
INCOME GENERATION
The Family Preservation Program provides meaningful learning opportunities through bi-weekly classes as well as personal visits. Through these interactions the families understand and implement:
The importance of self-reliance by establishing their own income. Adults will
develop the capacity to start their own business and qualify to receive microcredit.
Through these classes families learn to put new skills into practice. With the help of microcredit they work to receive, they learn to rely on their own ability to earn income versus expecting foreign aid.
HOME IMPROVEMENT
The Family Preservation Program provides meaningful learning opportunities through bi-weekly classes as well as personal visits. Through these interactions the families understand and implement:
The importance of home improvements through the use of cement and
corrugated roofs as well as keeping the homes free of rodents.
Most homes in Mozambique are built with thatched roofs and mud walls, which deteriorate quickly. With Care for Life's instructions, homes are built to last.
PSYCHO-SOCIAL WELL-BEING
The Family Preservation Program provides meaningful learning opportunities through bi-weekly classes as well as personal visits. Through these interactions the families understand and implement:
The importance of the emotional as well as psychological well-being of the family.
Care for Life focuses on marital fidelity, non-violence in marriage and parent/child
relations, and abstaining from the use of addictive substances.
In a study done by the Ministry of Women and Social Action, as many as 34% of women surveyed reported having been beaten and 10% of the respondents reported having been subjected to some form of sexual abuse. Care for Life instructs families on how to break the chain of abuse in the home. In addition, Care for Life brings to light the devastating effects of alcohol and drug abuse and promotes a healthy lifestyle.
Source: http://www.unicef.org/mozambique/protection_4902.html
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
The Family Preservation Program provides meaningful learning opportunities through bi-weekly classes as well as personal visits. Through these interactions the families understand and implement:
The importance of community involvement to form unity, develop altruistic
behavior towards one another, and achieve communal goals.
Communal goals are established through the local, village-based leadership. That is why Care for Life works in conjunction with a team of local leaders in each village. As families begin to acquire a sense of community they also gain a better understanding of their responsibility for the physical and emotional needs of orphans in their community. Communities who care for the orphans in their midst can help alleviate the burden of the orphan crisis that is so prevalent in Africa.
