By Elizabeth James
The World Vision office in Jubileo has launched a pre-school program called the Integral Development Center to help educate three- to five-year-old children in the Jubileo community.
Maria, one of the children participating in this program, initially had great difficulty integrating with the other children and staff at the pre-school. She constantly cried, and preferred the company of her mother and cousins over that of the other children.
Elias, one of the teachers at the pre-school centre, decided to approach Maria's mother about her behaviour. Maria's mother shared that her husband had died while she was still pregnant, and that she suffered a lot during her pregnancy. From an early age, Maria had the misfortune of feeling the insecurity of not having a father at home, which in turn affected her ability to socialize with other children and the staff at the pre-school centre.
Armed with this knowledge, Elias became more intentional about encouraging Maria, and through his help she has learned to integrate with the other children, and she has gained a great deal of confidence as well.
Even though the healing process will take some time, Maria doesn’t isolate herself from the other children anymore, and is learning to cope with her reality in healthier ways because of the love and support she receives from the staff and other children at the Integral Development Centre.
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