2 . The risk of teen pregnancy and childhood marriage is reduced
In many impoverished communities where children drop out of school at the end of primary school , girls often become pregnant as young as 13 or 14 years and in this culture , they are then forced to marry .
Numerous international studies have demonstrated that promoting literacy and education and keeping children , especially girls , in school for more years reduces the incidence of teenage pregnancy and childhood marriage , and contributes to communities breaking out of cycles of poverty .
3 . Training in other areas can be provided
We have seen that as trust in the community grows , opportunities open to offer training in other areas . The residents of these communities typically live hand to mouth and are preyed on by people who offer loans at exorbitant interest rates .
Our team and local colleagues are able to provide training in budgeting and avoiding debt traps . We are also able to assist families with negotiating government paperwork that then provides them with access to health benefits and other kinds of assistance for which they qualify .
In one example , we are able to provide training through the Reading Garden on how to make hand sanitiser and manage organic waste at home , how to make eco-bricks , and educate the community on what we can do to better care for our environment . The training was practical and deeply appreciated . Running training like this also help to maintain connections and build relationships with the wider communities .
4 . Trust is built with the whole family
The Reading Gardens are situated in highly communal societies . This means that our team and local colleagues quickly get to know parents , grandparents and other members of the extended family . We are able to develop relationships of trust with them over time as we seek to become alongsiders in their world .
They appreciate what we are doing for their children and they open up more and more about their lives and the struggles they are facing .
This gives us opportunities to pray with them and show that we are people of faith who are seeking to live by the values of God ’ s Kingdom , pointing them to Jesus , the one who offers new life .
RESONATE ISSUE 42 | PAGE 15
Reading Gardens are an initiative of the Creation Care project . Find out more :
www . baptistmissionaustralia . org / SEAcreationcare