We continued to present the Transformational Community Development (TCD) lessons on raising children and how to deal with them lovingly. We learned that, as mothers, we must be positive and live the same principles that we teach them. Umm Karim shared that she has an elementary school-aged son and that the school curriculum is very difficult for him. She shared, “I would threaten my son with beatings and humiliation if he lost grades. Knowing that I am an older mother, it is difficult for me to understand this curriculum, but I want my son to be among the first to understand it. This made my son always feel threatened. After I heard the lesson of raising a child without putting pressure on him, I became calm and told my son that I loved him and accepted him as he was, even if his grades were not high. I kept saying positive and encouraging words to him, making him feel safe instead of being afraid of me and my cruelty to him.”

We also presented lessons on love and its impact on children. We taught them that love is an act, not a word, and that we must offer love to all people, even those who are different from us. After the lesson, Jumana said, “I do not like my friend who is with me at school because she looks at me with an unkind look and also says bad things about me. She says I look like a monster. After I heard the lesson, I will talk to her again and try to deal with my friends with sensitivity and with love.”