Why We are Here: A Framework for Action (Week One)

The first speaker of the Children at Risk School was Janna Moats, founder of the Women and Children’s Advocacy Centre (http://wcacentre.org), a mother and grandmother, and formerly also a teacher, school administrator and espresso café owner.  Janna gave us a framework for the rest of our school and for working with at-risk children by interweaving together the three things that impact us as Christians working with or on behalf of children: God (the Word – God’s nature and character), the world (its need but also the tools it offers) and us (including our individual gifts, skills, experiences, relationships etc). I really enjoyed how personal she made the topics for us, challenging us to question common beliefs on family and what’s best for the poor and the needy, and encouraging us to reflect on what Bible verses mean to us personally in the time and place we are at right now and in what our goals, hopes and dreams are.

The first few days of classes went by in what seemed like a blink of an eye. On Monday and Tuesday I just couldn’t believe how quickly teaching was over, but towards the end of the week the tiredness from travelling, seemingly endless sitting on airplanes and wandering around airports trying to find a place to sleep, finally caught up with me. I was thoroughly exhausted, but even so, only after one week of teaching, I already feel encouraged and better equipped to organise some kind of training to support and hopefully inspire the volunteers at the church preschool in Malawi. They are amazing ladies, very committed to what they do, but with little training and scarce resources, I worry they might soon become weary. After listening to Janna teach and talking with my Children at Risk School leader, Rachel, I also know now that I want to share with the volunteers about the value of the child and God’s intentions for every child.

One of the topics Janna touched on is something I’ve been thinking about quite a bit recently.  It was very encouraging to hear her highlight the importance of humility. “You will always mess up,” she said, “if you don’t talk with the families and children first”. On other occasions she urged us to “know the history, the pain, a community has walked through” and “recognise that no one develops in isolation… we must look at children in contexts to fully understand child development”. During my second stay in Malawi, what became increasingly apparent to me could be described as the colonialist mindset, the belief that it is the Westerner who has something to give/teach and the local who can only receive/learn/follow. It made me feel really sad and utterly powerless at times, and I’m afraid it’s the Westerners who have not only created this legacy but to a large extent continue to reinforce it, so it was very refreshing to hear Janna speak about the value of humility, the importance of staying teachable and asking questions, and creating an environment of interdependence, as opposed to functioning independently or creating dependence. Janna also pointed out that “every new generation is an opportunity to know God in a new way” and “we should expect to learn new things about God from the children we care for”. Truly inspirational – don’t you think? :)