Building Community resilience among Roma families: How parenting workshops are promoting inclusion

"It is a parenting support program, consisting of 15 thematic workshops. We start with general topics about parenting such as: what parenting means today, how demanding it is, what am I good at and what are my strengths as a parent. Then we talk about parenting in general, about what we strive for as caregivers, about the s 4 pillars of parenting, based on what a parent should provide to a child. We then move on to some topics of child development, we also talk about brain development, what milestones children can achieve at  certain ages and what, for example, not to expect from a four-year-old in terms of development. Then we move on to discipline and here topics include: setting boundaries, developing communication skills, teaching them how to listen to children, how to establish a dialogue with them about their feelings, but also about what is happening in the world around us, as we view a parent as the first teacher to their child. Later, we look back at the childhood of the parents, what they learned from their families, what they would like to apply to their role as parents, and what they would change", explains the workshop educator Jelena Ptiček Perković. 

Finally, relationship with their partner and partnership, is the concluding topic of the workshops, where participants share how much of their partnership is reflected in their parenting.  

"We also provide a support network, where they can ask for help, we explain to them that it is not just a neighbour, sister or a husband, but that there is a well-established support system, such as Family Center, Social Welfare Center, with general practitioners, pediatricians etc“, says Ptiček Perković.  

Despite the initial fear that there would be no participants in the workshops, or that those who started attending would give up along the way, the workshops were a success and currently there is a demand and great interest for new cycle of workshops.  

"During the workshops, I liked the fact that everything we said remained between us, and that’s how it was from the beginning to the end of the workshop. It helped me a lot, I realized that I did not receive the support of my parents growing up, but that despite this I can provide all the support my children require. Children need attention, care, and affection of their parents. Thanks to the workshops, my son Jakov has changed a lot, he was hyperactive and misbehaved before, now he listens to me and does more than I ask from him, he does what he thinks he can and is more confident. I have seen him write and draw many times, I’ve seen him prepare his own clothes, and even for his sister, so workshops helped us a lot with that", says  Jelena. 

She thinks a lot about the future. 

"I hope that Jakov will finish elementary school and high school, that he will get a job and follow in my husband's footsteps or in his own, as he likes. But I hope he will do good, that he will have a lot of ups and not so many downs. For the girls, I also hope they will finish school and find a job, that they will have a good family and a husband like mine is", concludes Mother Jelena Bogdan. 

Lidija Vinković, Head of the Family Center Branch, Čakovec Social Welfare Center says that through these workshops, the Family Center also had the opportunity to get to know the participants better. She feels great pride because mothers came to the workshops for full 15 weeks in a row.

"Until now, they have not had the opportunity to work on themselves, on strengthening their parenting skills , because in their community such support was not even available. It was fascinating for us to observe progress from week to week, participants themselves reflected and shared on how they learned to control anger. I think that is incredibly positive that mothers accepted the positive discipline approaches we shared. It’s also great to see they adopted some new routines – feeding, sleeping, learning ... Because they often stressed that they did not know how to organize their day around their children’s needs. There are noticeable benefits for them. Mutual support is certainly something all parents and caregivers will take home with them. I think they received tools to empower them here and they recognized it. They continued socializing together after the workshops,  going on walks with the kids and to the playground. The parenting comics we shared with them to use with their children, and I think that's how they enrich their relationship within their families", Lidija Vinković says.