KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Rural Family Support Organisation (RuFamSO) is to receive a seven million dollar boost from the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) Foundation over the next three years, Utealia Burrell, Executive Director of RuFamSO, announced.
She was speaking during a two-day showcase staged at the Hilton Kingston Hotel recently (November 6) to advocate for increased public and private sector investment in the organisation’s Roving Caregivers Programme of Jamaica (RCP).
“The funding will support our RCP flagship initiative in sustaining the delivery of child development and parenting education via free home visitation services,” Mrs. Burrell said.
Children from birth to three years in targeted communities who do not have access to any formal education are the primary beneficiaries of the 16-year-old programme.
In recognition of its work in Jamaica and the region, the RCP received the prestigious UNICEF Maurice Pete Award for protecting and promoting the health, welfare and general well being of children. It has been replicated in St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Grenada and Belize in collaboration with the Caribbean Child Support Initiative (CSSI).
To date, the local RCP has served more than 20,000 children throughout the parishes of Clarendon, Manchester, St. Thomas and St. Catherine. However, due to lack of funding, the operation has been scaled down and now serves only Clarendon-based families, Mrs. Burrell reported.
The JNBS donation, the Executive Director remarked, is timely as the organisation seeks to sustain the work, and extend its reach to thousands of children across the island.
“With the generosity of the JNBS Foundation and that of our other sponsors, we are now able to continue our mission.”
That mission, she says, is to provide enrichment to young children through the development of motor, perceptual, emotional, cognitive and social skills. Additionally, the programme is building the capacity of parents by imparting the knowledge and practices necessary for effective child care.
Necessary Intervention
RCP remains a necessary social intervention, Mrs. Burrell maintains, as approximately one in three Jamaican children, under the age of four, live in poverty.
Moreover, she says, the programme is not only benefitting deprived children; but caters to teenage mothers and entire families. She described the cadre of young caregivers called Rovers, who visit families at their homes and provide children with regular stimulation sessions.
“The families are selected by Rovers within different communities. Parents and guardians are also referred to the RCP by Health Centres and other indirect beneficiaries of the programme.”
“These children live in environments for which many of the basic necessities for healthy growth are lacking,” she said, adding that, “through scientific research, the programme has demonstrated its value in slowing the rate of the decline in their developmental process.”
For the Rovers, the RCP is not only providing extensive training and hands-on experience but also prepares them for professional early childhood development certification and sustainable career opportunities.
Saffrey Brown (right), General Manager, Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) Foundation gives Joan Walker (left) a hand in entertaining her daughter, during a Roving Caregivers stimulation session in Clarendon on Thursday, November 12. Also participating in the session is Senior Rover, Stephanie Godfrey (centre). JNBS Foundation has committed $7 million to sustain the Roving Caregivers Programme of the Rural Family Support Organisation, which delivers child development and parenting education via free home visitation services.
Saffrey Brown, General Manager of the JNBS Foundation asserts that her organisation’s confidence in the effectiveness and long term outcomes of the programme influenced the decision to provide funding of some $7 million.
“The JNBS Foundation’s grant will provide financial and technical support to the initiative; and, bolster RuFamSO’s mandate to assist rural communities experience a strengthened family base and achieve the best possible quality of life for its residents,” she said.
Ms. Brown added that the RCP is consistent with the main rural regeneration and other developmental themes of the Foundation.
“Through the Roving Caregivers programme and other initiatives, JNBS Foundation remains committed to enhancing youth and community and providing education and skills training to the underprivileged in Jamaica,” Ms. Brown concluded.
Stephanie Godfrey (left) Senior Rover in the Roving Caregivers Programme discusses home visitation stimulation with Saffrey Brown (right), General Manager, Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) Foundation. They were at a stimulation session with parents and Rovers in Clarendon on Thursday, November 12. The Roving Caregivers Programme of the Rural Family Support Organisation recently received a $7 million grant from JNBS Foundation, to be used for its child development and parenting education services.
RuFamSO is a leading non-profit organisation established in the parish of Clarendon in 1996, to advocate, design, develop and deliver family enrichment education and life skills in rural Jamaica. It is currently supported by the JNBS Foundation, the Bernard Van Leer Foundation, the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica and the Global Fund for Children.
