National Positive Parenting Programme (NPPP) Transforming Families, One Household at a Time

The National Positive Parenting Program focuses on  improving how parents execute their roles within the family by enhancing their knowledge, attitudes, skills, behaviors, and practices. The Transformative parenting programme provides parenting education and support which is necessary to enable families remain stable and provide a safe and nurturing environment where children thrive.

The program recognizes that gender norms and inequalities greatly influence family dynamics, interactions and decision making and aims to address power imbalances in families, promote positive and equitable care giving practices, respectful; relationships and joint decision making. The program also seeks to promote and engage men and male care givers on issues of parenting and encourage both men and women to be emotionally connected to be actively involved in their children’s lives.

Mzee Simba Muthoka is a beneficiary of the National Positive Parenting sessions in Mariakani, Kaloleni sub county. He narrates that when the sessions started, he was keen to learn more about positive parenting “When we started, only 3 men attended the sessions. We came to realize that men in the surrounding community were not so keen on attending the class citing that they had to look for food and means of sustaining their livelihoods” This was a big challenge for the facilitator who mobilized the participants. It became clear that there was need to sensitize more and more men to appreciate the important role they play in parenting. Mzee Simba adds that one of his favorite topics was on “positive male involvement in parenting” . In his words “I came to realize that my wife and grandchildren feared approaching me because I was too strict. Communication was a problem because there was no open discussion and the environment was not conducive for open sharing”

His wife joined him in the sessions and together they understood the importance of parenting in creating a safe environment for children to thrive and achieve their goals in life. How children are parented will have positive or adverse effects in their future. It will manifest in their adulthood. Fathers who are present in the lives of their children build resilience and confidence in them. With time mzee Simba actively engaged himself in the day to day activities of the household as part of the take home activities they were given. He assisted in domestic work and other family responsibilities. His wife noticed the changes and it became easier to initiate conversations as well as perform simple tasks like cooking, cleaning with her husband. “ I felt more safe and at ease knowing that we were sharing household loads and  making decisions together. Whatever challenges and conflicts we encountered, we resolved it together”.  

The sessions enhanced their parenting skills and improved family relationships. They also mentioned that there is more positive communication in the households and they are embracing alternative forms of discipline because beating a child does not solve the issues at hand. Mr. Simba stated “Initiatilly I could not help my wife with simple tasks in the house because I felt that the head of the house should not engage in such. I wanted to live true to my name as the lion of the house. However after the positive parenting classes, I began to look at things from a different perspective. That it is important for a man and a woman to work together, help each other and in the process, there is growth and stability in the household. Nowadays, I can boil bathing water for her and assist in fetching firewood”.

The culmination of these was a graduation ceremony to celebrate the participants and encourage them to practice what they have learnt. Mr. Simba has taken it upon himself to sensitize men and male caregivers in the community to embrace aspects of positive parenting. “Challenging retrogressive cultures and traditions and norms is very key in encouraging men to be more supportive of their wives, to be more present in the lives of their families and in the process build resilient stronger families”