Teach children to reach out to the needy

Over the last few weeks, I have been involved in a media campaign to create awareness around a delicate subject called palliative care. This is specialised treatment for people suffering from life threatening diseases in which they are helped to cope, especially with the related pains that arise from the sickness and the side effects of the disease and treatment.

Palliative care activists believes that every life matters to the very end. Before the onset of this kind of care, many died from the pain, yet they could have lived much longer and happier lives untill their dying day. 

The reason this subject is dear to my heart is because generally as a people, we have been wired to expect help and donations from foreigners, but we rarely see ourselves as givers.

I have a strong conviction that one has not lived fully if they have not mastered the art of walking into the shoes of other people.

Whereas it is a beautiful thing to be given, it is more rewarding to be a giver and blesser. A cheerful and generous giver hardly lacks.

What are you doing as a parent in helping to change this narrative? Are you a cheerful and generous giver and teaching this same value to your children?

Do the children in your care know or appreciate seeing and taking care of the needs of others or do they only understand taking, taking and more taking?

When the child is served food and they play with the food, it might be a great opportunity to start the conversation around the reality that another child on this same planet is about to die because they have nothing to eat.

At one moment, I took time off to show the children video clips of starving children around the world. Hunger and starvation is not something only for people in distant areas but even in our immediate neighbourhood and surroundings.

Do the children in your care appreciate fending for those that are less advantaged? As we celebrate the resurrection weekend, let us also deeply reflect on our own lives and think about pouring ourselves into the lives of others.

If you are able, please make a generous donation to Hospice Africa Uganda. If 50 people gave generously and consistently for a year, a whole generation of patients will be blessed. Feel free to email or visit their office in Makindye for more information.

But most importantly, take the time to deliberately and consistently teach your children to be generous givers. Life will thank you too.