The new mother-toddler-group
In October educationalist Mandy Rosenkranz and midwife Monika Schmidt started an early intervention programme for children. During the sessions they also pass on tips and tricks to the young mothers. Many things are not going ideally as one has daily proof when one walks along Curahuasi’s streets. Some babies are carried for hours on their parents’ shoulders, while others are left lying on their backs. One would also think that it goes without saying that Coca Cola is out of place in a baby’s bottle…!!!
Five interested mothers came to the group’s first meeting, which started with a Bible reflection. Then motoric exercises were shown before the topics of bonding, breast-feeding and sleep were talked about in great detail. In Peru it is common that children are put to bed after 10p.m. which has consequences on their day- and sleep-rhythms. Furthermore, specialists from the Hospital Diospi Suyana are also invited to the weekly meetings. Be they children’s physiotherapists, dentists or paediatricians all of them bring a lot of experience to the group meetings.
Quechua mothers have hardly an inkling of the body’s physiological processes before, during and after pregnancy. Over coffee and biscuits they are given the opportunity to ask any question they might have. One mother asked if it were true that a child’s cheeks would hang down in later life, if one carried it upside down, slung over one’s shoulder. Other such “interesting ideas” unfortunately prevent a number of Quechua women from giving their children the opportunity to burp after being fed. It is clear that Mandy and Monika have found a niche that needs desperate attention.
Click on the following link to find out more about this mother-toddler-group: https://www.familie-rosenkranz-in-peru.net/2018/10/28/estimulaci%C3%B3n-temprana/
