Barrington Reeves Project Development Co-ordinator Sowing Seeds

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Barrington Reeves Project Development
Co-ordinatorSowing Seeds

• Working With Men/Fathers, Male Inclusive services
• The African Caribbean Experience

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Holistic Human Principles

• Love and Balance are prerequisites for Human
  Relationships, between masculine/feminine
  (Internal) and Male/female (external).

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Holistic Human Principles

• Certain principles can be developed to bring
  balance to all relationships for the benefits of
  the children.
• These are -
• Willingness,
• Awareness,
• Acknowledgement,
• Acceptance,
• Understanding,
• Forgiveness,
• Responsibility,
• Commitment,
• Faith.

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Holistic Human Principles contd

• Life is energy and we all possess energy
  expressed as Love.
• How we feel depends on our experience. our
  experience is an internal process consisting of
  Thoughts , Feelings and expressed as Behaviour.
• Intuition and creativity can transform our
  internal and external worlds, so anything is
  possible, working with men/fathers as a positive
  resource.

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Sowing SeedsIntroduction

• Aims
• To work with Parents especially Men/fathers
  including Young fathers to encourage and
  participate in responsible and consistent
  parenting and relationships.
• To work with Service Providers to develop
  culturally appropriate services for Men/Fathers
  from African Caribbean Communities, by running
  African Caribbean Fatherhood Relationship
  Parent programmes.
• Objectives
• To establish workshops/forums events for the
  Black Family, especially Men/Fathers to gather
  and share experiences and discuss issues relevant
  to successful parenting and promote bonding
  consistent interaction.
• Improve parenting skills amongst the Family,
  especially Men/Fathers.
• Network with other organisations to inform about
  research, practice delivery of services.
• To help services providers develop strategy for
  Male Inclusive Services.

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Sowing Seeds Philosophy

• The name Sowing Seeds also indicates our
  philosophy and the way we work. The square was
  agreed upon, at once for the beauty of its
  simplicity, as it represents a number of
  important concepts, firstly the four points on
  the square corresponds to the cardinal points on
  the compass that used singularly or in
  combination provides direction and engenders a
  full view and awareness of ones environment and
  ecology.
• The square (or in its 3 dimensional state, a
  cube), also represents the four basic elements
  necessary for life, these being earth, air, water
  and fire. Life and more precisely the quality of
  life is critical, and through our various
  activities, we aim to improve the quality of life
  for all.
• Colors
• The color of the square, black was so chosen to
  represents the home of ideas that are formed and
  take shape within the depths of the mind and the
  place where the seeds of new ideas can be
  planted. The color green indicates the fertile
  receptive mind, or the mind that is no longer
  stagnate or dormant but able to generate and
  contemplate life enhancing options. The font
  Sowing Seeds is completed in yellow as the bright
  light of creativity and progress.
• Sowing Seeds derives its name from the belief in
  growth and the potential of individuals and
  communities to adapt develop and progress. It is
  then about stimulating generating and supporting
  effective ideas that will contribute to
  constructive change growth and thinking.
• We are aware that change is an evolutionary
  process and that individual and collective growth
  takes time and is not, in the first instance
  immediate or apparent.

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It takes a Village to Raise a ChildAfrican
Centred Spiritual Concept

• The roots of this ancient proverb lies in Africa
  in the main attributed to Igbo /Yoruba Traditions
  in Nigeria.
• On one level it tells us that the raising of the
  young cannot be left to individual families let
  alone one parent, in isolation. It reminds us,
  that for the most part child rearing is probably
  the most demanding of all human activities and
  though it is a role we adapt to, it is
  nevertheless presents us with a massive challenge
  to our self concept, patience, financial
  resources, understanding and our own challenge to
  fulfil our dreams and accept ourselves.
• On a deeper level, this is an illustration of a
  particular way of experiencing and relating to
  the world that sees wholeness a connectedness in
  all things that implies a responsibility we all
  share, in the development of our young, each
  other and community.

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Sowing Seeds African Caribbean Programmes

• The programmes explores the issues faced by
  African Caribbean Men/Fathers Women in single
  mixed gendered groups. The Fatherhood Programme
  Parenthood Relationship Programme
• Issues explored include-Masculinity,
  Relationships, Identity, Money, Parenting Styles
  Child Development, Education, Family Law,
  Spirituality (Cutting the ties that Bind),
  Communication, Sex, Fatherhood, Intimacy, Mixed
  Relationships, Re-constituted Relationships,
  Communication.
• It Takes a Village to raise a Child.

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Questions Posed During Sessions

• How were you Mothered/Fathered, what was the
  Impact of this?
• What is it to be a Man/Father, What are the
  expectations for these roles?
• Do you feel there is Understanding Of Black
  Family Life and your role In it?
• How do we as men teach young boys about
  Masculinity?
• Does Society and Culture have an Influence on
  your Parenting Role and Capacity?

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Evaluation

• Comments from Participants
• Excellent, Thank you.
• Needs a full day seminar on this
• particular topic include much
• wider audience.
• Dynamic Healing.
• Very supportive in helping us to
• make positive decisions.
• Superb, challenging Inspirational.
• Needs more involvement of
• professionals with the community.

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Men/Fathers Today

• 5.4 Million fathers living with Dependant
  Children.
• 178,000 Lone parent fathers up from 60,000 in
  1970.
• Around 2 million non-resident fathers.
• 33 of childcare taken care of by men/fathers.
• 93 of men take time off during the birth of
  their children.
• 2005, 31 of father worker flexi time compared to
  11 in 2002.
• Only 44 of women with babies believe women are
  naturally better carers than men.
• 80 of men/fathers in BME Communities compared to
  68 of white fathers want greater involvement
  with their babies.
• Statistics taken from Equal Opportunity
  Commission 2005.

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Human Interaction, Solution focused

• We cannot solve our problems with the same level
  of thinking that created them.
• Its the process of solving rather than the
  outcome that proves to the learning
• Albert Einstein

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The Challenge

• Every worker in the field of Health Social Care
  should be trained to recognise the ways in which
  their own Cultural upbringing is likely to have
  affected their perceptions of the difficulties
  that their clients bring
• Source Murphy- 1986. Race Counselling In
  Health Social Care.

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Model for Change, Human Interaction, Self
Awareness

• Do you as a professional recognize your own
  feelings, thoughts
• emotions in relation to what issues are being
  presented by the
• client and do you recognize them in your
  professional practice?
• REFLECTIVE PRACTICE!!!!!

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Involving Men/Fathers

• Is the parenting capacity of men and women
  ordained by nature, biology and psychology?
• Or
• Is it a product of particular historical
  circumstances, social processes and ideologies,
  and vary with ethnicity, religion and cultural
  background?
• Working with fathers and male carers raises many
  issues for us all, both personal and
  professional?
• We all bring values and beliefs related to
  motherhood and fatherhood whether these are
  implicit or explicit?

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Professional Attitudes Regarding Men/Fathers.

• What Is Fatherhood about
• What do we see as the roles and responsibilities
  of men/fathers
• As professionals how do we support the notions of
  Manhood, Masculinity fatherhood.
• What are your attitudes and beliefs about
  Men/Fathers,
• How do your attitudes beliefs influence your
  interactions with Men/Fathers in your
  professional practice.
• How do we as adults/professionals influence
  Children Young peoples views of men and
  fatherhood.
• What is your Organisational attitude regarding
  engagement working with Men/Fathers, from BME
  Communities, especially African Caribbean
  men/fathers and young men/fathers.

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Organisational Strategy

• What are the organisations policies towards
  men/father, especially now with the Gender
  Equality Duty On service provision.
• How do staff relate to working with Men/fathers
  and what are the issues for staff.
• How does the organisation work with Equality
  Diversity, i.e. working with BME, Disability
  Sexuality.
• How do you feel about working with African
  Caribbean Men/fathers and other BME groups.

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Engagement Of Men/Fathers.

• What do you feel are the incentives for
  men/fathers to get involved, how do you
  communicate this?
• Do you prioritise activities for men/fathers?
• Where do you advertise events for men/fathers?
• Do you think of men/fathers as a positive
  resource of experience and learning?
• Do you make events meaningful to their lives and
  experience and a learning opportunity?

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Some Tips For Professionals Volunteers

• Look to research the local area in which you work
  and find out what work is going on with
  men/fathers and seek the local knowledge.
• Do an audit of the local community and find out
  how organisations are working with men/fathers
  and what they are doing, find your own unique way
  of working with them.
• If you want to work with men/fathers, look into
  research about their culture and lifestyle, do
  not make assumptions.
• Please do not leave working with men/fathers to
  male staff only especially Black staff as this
  can fell very patronising. Work as a team to
  devise strategies to deliver this service as a
  team, even if the BME staff facilitates it.
• Keep up to date on the research produced on
  men/fathers work and their role in the family,
  use this to form debate and practice in the
  organisation and continually ask men/fathers, be
  that your husband, partner, boyfriend, young men,
  older men what they would like, make it
  hypothetical as they may take offence to be asked
  in such a direct way.
• Look at the alternative cultural models of Family
  functioning and see what can be learned from this
  in relation to the Indigenous cultures model of
  family functioning (Nuclear Model)

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Humanity

• Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond
  measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that
  most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to
  be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
• Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child
  of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the
  world. There's nothing enlightened about
  shrinking so that other people won't feel
  insecure around you.
• We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are
  born to make manifest the glory of God that is
  within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in
  everyone.
• And as we let our own light shine, we
  unconsciously give other people permission to do
  the same. As we are liberated from our own fear,
  our presence automatically liberates others."
• IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD!!! Yoruba
  Tradition, Ile Ifa, Nigeria.
• Nelson Mandela Speech to South African
  Parliament For New Government Post Apartied 1994.

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Support for Male Inclusive Services

• A Male Inclusive Service Self Assessment
  Practice Tool can be purchased from Sowing
  Seeds.
• E-mail sowingseedsmanchester_at_hotmail.co.uk.
• Or phone [phone] ask for
• Barrington Reeves,
• Project Development Co-ordinator.