Inspire to Work with Care Givers; the individuals responsible for the next generation
Joy Ayuma Nandokha, Masters in Curriculum & Instruction
My name is Joy Ayuma Nandoka. I am a wife and mother to two children. I am pursuing a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction in African International University.
My aim of pursuing the Masters in Christian Education is to become a more polished Christian Educator who has a greater impact on children and their care givers. In addition to my education and counseling skills acquired earlier, I have had a desire to add on a practical Biblical approach as an educator. I hope to enhance my teaching and mentoring of children and child care givers.
Until now I have diligently worked with children and by extension care givers in schools, churches and the larger community. I have been involved in Christian evangelism and education as well as life skills education to the mentioned groups. I have a holistic view of children’s concerns and now am very interested in their care givers welfare. Having grown up with four sisters in I have a personal love and understanding for women. I am a big champion for children and women and child care givers empowerment. My experience as a mother for more than three years has drawn me closer to women as I realize that they are key caregivers in their children’s lives, and actually determine the welfare of the children. I am grateful to Ignite Excellence for investing in me as a woman leader. I am already in a small way involved in the leadership, advocacy and education of women.
One of my areas of concern is the generational and poverty cycle propagated in my society when women in the family are not economically empowered. I have narrowed down my outreach to one group of women, the house helps. They seem to bring up economically desperate families. I am already doing advocacy in my sphere of influence, three women groups that I am part of (five, twelve and thirty women in the different groups), to sensitize the women on this sad situation. I am informally rallying for the middle class woman to empower her house help and other child care giver, especially economically. This would involve training them and exposing them to different alternatives to improve their livelihood. I am keen to partner with different women who would offer a range of expertise in various aspects of life as resource people. I would encourage them to give back to society and volunteer their service. I would coordinate the process. Some of the empowering forums would be in workshops where the women experts are resource people to the house helps. The house helps and child care givers could also be assisted to access other affordable established centers where they could get further empowered. I am open to pursuing the alternative of more informal forums where women of higher economic and social status would mentor the other women.
Some other areas I am passionate about and that I would engage in after my studies are:
- Empowering parents and care givers to raise well balanced children as self reliant individuals – as a speaker/ resource person in schools, churches and children homes.
- Being part of a team that reviews and creates an affordable holistic education and balanced school system for our children in my country Kenya.
With this opportunity to study I hope to continue modeling how an African woman can be an effective mother and wife and still be force to reckon with in the society.
