Removing Barriers

The Daycare Education Camp will create case studies of eight Myanmar refugee women. These moms will provide desired and feasible daycare options for their community and share their solutions with at least 30 other Myanmar families.

What is it?

An 8 week educational camp that provides a safe space for Myanmar women to fully understand daycare options while empowering them to create their own solutions for daycare and employment.

When and where is it?

Waterloo First United Methodist Church
April 4th to May 30th

The structure of the educational camp will be as follows:

M, W - 9 am to Noon at Waterloo First United Methodist Church.
8 women of Myanmar (12 to 16 kids ages 3 months to 5 yr).
Each day will encompass two learning groups.
1. Daycare modeling - practicing child care; 4 women work with the kids understanding different activities.
2. Personal development - 4 women exploring personal development options around daycare (see above daycare options list).
Daycare tour at Grin and Grow and Royal Legacy.

Camp Schedule

Daycare Options:

Women being employed in the Cedar Valley with children placed in a current licensed daycare provider (exploring financial assistance).
Women becoming employed at a current daycare provider (Royal Legacy or Grin and Grow) and putting their child in the daycare.
Women becoming licensed in-home daycare providers.
Women cooperatively owning a licensed daycare near to their homes.

Primary goals:

Compile a set of feasible daycare options with samples from the case studies recorded.
Educate an additional 30 women from the Myanmar community over the summer by holding picnics and allowing the camp participants to present the ideas they learned to the community.

Secondary goals:

Women learn early childhood development concepts.
Children are able to be socialized with other children.
Women and children gain confidence and social skills.

Activities to reach these goals include:

Benefits for Moms

Progressive integration into workforce, allowing time for adjustments for kids and family life.
Learn about child development, specifically in language, social, emotional, nutritional, cognitive, and motor development.
Engage with other parents to build a sense of community, and strength those connections. We know life is better in community.
Learn about child safety, and parenting techniques.
Creating and maintaining routines in their children's lives.
Vision casting to what licensed daycare operation could look like for them.
Connections to resources and education in how to become a licensed provider.
Connection to our social work interns to see how we can connect them to their dream, and how we can support them in making those dreams a reality.
Learn basic food preparation skills.
Be a part of our leadership sessions-learning about growth and personal development.

Benefits for Kids

Learning routines, rule, boundaries and play with other children and adults.
Engage in learning about their world, and the cultures that are coming together in their world.
Recieve care in the way that feels nurturing for them, and not from individuals that seem frightening from the perspective of the child.
Slowly adjusting to time away from their parents, as opposed to experiencing separation very suddenly, for a longer period of time.