The Child Reintegration Centre regularly holds workshops on healthy parent-child attachment for parents of CRC-enrolled children.  Attachment, or normal bonding between parent and child, is the primary mental pillar of a child's development and is essential for a family's health and stability.

Families in Sierra Leone may struggle because of extreme poverty, parental illiteracy, and household instability caused by parents leaving to pursue work.  Many of the children enrolled in a CRC program have experienced trauma in their young lives, which may cause them to struggle with behavioral problems.  The CRC's attachment workshop helps parents understand the critical importance of bonding, and effective strategies for dealing with behavior challenges without damaging the bond between caregiver and child. 


The attachment workshop covers six modules:

• Secure attachment
• The impact of trauma  on a child's development
• Understanding  attunement - detecting what the child is feeling or thinking, and responding appropriately)
• Temperament and childhood resiliency
• Emotional regulation - the ability to respond with an appropriate emotional range)
• Caregiver well-being - helping parents get their emotional needs met, so they aren't dependent on the child to meet their emotional needs. 

Last year, attachment workshops were held at the CRC administrative office for families living in the Bo area.  The counselors traveled to  Manguama, Pujehun, and Fengehun, villages served by the CRC and Mercy, to hold workshops.  Last year the CRC held five attachment theory workshops for parents, and plans are in place to hold refresher classes for all parents in the coming year.

- Emmanuel Lamin, CRC Case Manager