A School’s Desire to Safeguard
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
Acts 20:28.
The goal of all schools is to educate children and keep them safe. For the Kudzivirira School, protecting children has been subjective. While everyone agrees that child protection is important, without standardized training or a written code, the terms of safety can vary depending on who is enforcing it. Through the Holding Esther audio drama, RiverCross was able to introduce the Kudzivirira School to the importance of a Child Protection Policy, emphasizing the value of preventative measures.
The Holding Esther training has started an important conversation with the Kudzivirira School, providing them with practical examples of appropriate boundaries, the screening process, and accountability procedures through standardized training. By educating the school on the values behind the Child Protection Policy and informing them on common risks, the Kudzivirira staff is equipped to develop their own policy that is appropriate for their unique context, and sustainable for ongoing education as new teachers and students come through the school. Not only is the Kudzivirira School now informed on what to do if abuse occurs through internal accountability and external law enforcement, but they are better prepared to prevent the abuse from occuring in the first place through setting boundaries and holding one another to a standard above reproach.
Praise be to God for the vulnerability of the Kudzivirira School and their willingness to learn how to better protect the children in their community. Not only has the school now developed their own Child Protection Policy, but they have plans to periodically review the information with the staff to stay accountable to one another and unified in the goal of keeping their children safe.
*Although the stories we share are true, identifying details have been changed.
