|TOP|Christian humanitarian organisation, World Vision, has been helping survivors of last year’s tsunami left to care for their children on their own after losing a spouse.

The Single Parents workshop for tsunami widows and widowers was organised by World Vision recently in Lhoong district of Aceh, Indonesia, to address the problem of single parenthood following the disaster.

The workshop comes is designed to support the many families now either headed by only one parent, or in the case where both parents died, families which have now become child-headed households.

“We decided to carry out this workshop because several surveys have shown that there is a high rate of single parent families in Banda Aceh post tsunami, and the impact of parenting alone is very stressful for both male and female. However for males in this culture it is more challenging,” said World Vision Protection and Advocacy Manager, Patricio Cuevas-Parra.

He continued: “One of our aims is to show them that everybody can be a great mother or father, despite the cultural conditioning that exist in most male-dominated societies.

|AD|We have the conviction that the stability and quality of role models are more important than the gender.”

The workshop covers a number of issues, including good parenting, children’s rights, single parents’ duties according to Islamic law, and economic development for single parents.

Abdullah, 38, was just one of the many survivors left widowed by the tsunami who are now attending the workshop. Abduallah, who has plans to remarry, is attending the course in order to build a closer relationship with his 12-year-old son.

“I have lost my everything, including my wife and son, and now I have to raise my son alone. This workshop is really helpful for me to know what my child needs and how to build good communication with him,” he said.

Mr Cuevas-Parra continued: “Single parents need to learn how they can deal with the special needs of raising children alone. Also with this training, we are seeking to benefit children, because when we build positive roles for single parents, that also means that we are providing a safer, more loving and caring environment for children.”

According to Cuevas-Parra, the team is planning to hold the workshop every month in each of World Vision’s programme areas, as well as develop follow-up training.