Friday 17 July 2015

BE A CHILD AMBASSADOR



WHO IS A CHILD AMBASSADOR?

A Child Ambassador is a defender of the rights of children. He or she is a voice that encourages, advocates, represents, promotes, and strengthen the beliefs, dreams, visions of children and change for better their lives, especially the weak and vulnerable ones. They are passionate and selfless individuals who see and have no limitations to give their all; their time, resources, connections to give opportunities to impact the lives of these children. They are willing to educate other people to raise awareness and to make a difference for the children.

Beyond individual efforts, a Child Ambassador connects with other people who share the same passion and vision for making the world a better place for the children. They meet regularly to share information, update on knowledge that are beneficial to the children and institute support groups to mentor and train a child to become a better person. Hence, they find ways to successfully influence their families, communities and even the global world by using available facts and their relationship with agencies and the media to effect the changes they want to see in the lives of the children and their families.

These children need a push to make their lives better. Countless number of children are in dire want of support that will unleash their potentials and transform their lives beyond expectations. Every child has a gem buried within. This precious stone can either see the light of the day or rust beneath the untold hardships that the child will encounter in life.

Somewhere along the line, without adequate support, the child forgets the dreams he dared to dream, the change he wanted to be and before long, he begins to see himself as no good. With no support, he embraces wrong ideologies, thoughts and makes friends with those who equally share the same mindset. From childhood, he transitions to a teenager without no clear sense of direction and when he realizes he has become an adult, all he has left will be regrets and depression as he anticipates a bleak future.

The good news is, it might not be so. Somewhere along the line, just before he makes the transition to adulthood, he might be among the lucky ones to experience guidance in forms of scholarships, mentorship and adoption. Even though the gesture was not anticipated, yet, it would be the best thing that had ever happened to him. Suddenly a bleak future becomes filled with colours of rainbows and lot of sunshine. The dreams will blossom and his confidence restored. The precious stone beneath will be dug out and polished to perfection. A star will be born and a life will be won.

Duties of a Child Ambassador

To be a Child Ambassador is not rocket science. Below is a list of five duties of a Child Ambassador.

·        A Child Ambassador collates facts and information. In their quest to make a better life for the child, a child ambassador will among other things obtain relevant personal information of the child and the issues confronting such a child.
·        A Child Ambassador knows his or her limits: Although you are passionate about that child, you don’t want to be seen as an intruder. A Child Ambassador will know what independent decisions he can take for a child or when he has to call for state help to combine efforts in impacting positively on a child’s life.
·        A Child Ambassador is pro-active. He or she must be involved in a lot of planning to ensure the success of the mission. They are thoughtful and are quick to spot opportunities that can be leveraged on to achieve the best result for a child.
·        A Child Ambassador is a problem solver. He or she is not averse to taking risks. They identify and prescribe solutions to the problems that might arise in the cause of their representation of the interests of a child.
·        A Child Ambassador is realistic and decisive. When faced with issues beyond their scope, a Child Ambassador will weigh the facts, discuss issues and make proposals to create a balanced outcome in favour of the child. However, when circumstances prove otherwise, they are smart to let go and seek for a better opportunity to re- champion their cause.

Finally, it is said that a Child Ambassador don’t choose sides in with parties in issues that affect children but the child, even in the most complex and controversial circumstances. The goal is to ensure that the children’s health, education and protection needs are met.



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Emotional and Knowledgeable Boundaries Invasion

There are other forms of boundaries invasion such as emotional and intellectual boundary invasion. This happens when you are allow yourself to be easily caught up in the emotions, beliefs, ideologies, relationships, responsibilities etc. of others. If you cannot protect yourself from such invasions, you risk being bruised, wounded and battered.

Examples of emotional and intellectual boundary invasions are:

  • Allowing yourself to be influenced and overwhelmed by another person’s feelings. Your mirror their present state happiness or sadness to yours without actually allowing your true feelings to surface.
  • When you have to let go of your dreams and goals in other to make the other person happy.
  • When you think you have to be the one to tell people how to live their lives
  •  Finally, when you shift the blame or refuse to take responsibility for your actions.
Benefits of setting Healthy Boundaries:
ü  It enables us to develop high self-esteem and respect that allows us to be well treated by others.
ü  Healthy boundaries allow us to have our opinions, thoughts, feelings and needs articulated in a respectful manners and not feel threatened when others think otherwise. 
ü  It also prevents us from being trapped with the web of other people’s needs, thought, feelings and desire. We know where to draw the limit of sympathy and compassion.
ü  We do not feel manipulated to disclose personal issues unless we are certain we are in a mutually sharing/ trusting relationship.

Where to Set Boundaries

Are you in doubt as to where to set boundaries in your life? Below are some areas where you can set personal boundaries.

Work Space – Working from home is quite exciting. However, it can be frustrating when there is no proper understanding by others on how you wish to use your times and supplies. It is quite important that everyone around you know their bounds especially when to call on you, or how they make use of your gadgets and stationery. When you successfully communicate your boundaries to them, you will have the freedom and productivity you truly desire.

Team Work:  When you are part of a team, it is so tempting to prove that you are capable of doing more than what is required of you, especially if you have a problem of saying yes to everything. Try as much as possible to reject every request of adding more to your responsibilities graciously, otherwise you risk suffering from exhaustion and burnout.

Friends & Relatives: No one is island and your family needs you as much as you need them. That is not to say you have to cater to all their needs. Let them know of your decision to set boundaries especially when it comes to sharing household tasks. You should also be considerate and let them know before hand of the new boundaries you have set and ensure you stick to them, no matter what.

Time – If you are as guilty as most people in time management, then you should be thinking of setting up a self- imposed constraint to achieve efficiency. For example, if you have to finish a task within a scheduled period of two hours, it is better you constrain yourself to an hour slot so as to prevent you from actually wasting the two hours and not get anything really done.

Health Care – We know that all work and no play makes things worse. It is important to put boundaries in place to avoid over-working and to give yourself adequate rest. Set limits as to when and how you will eat out, when to stop work and put in place an exercise routine that will help to keep you sharp and on top of your game.
So, now that you know, which of these statements reflect your personal boundaries limits.

  •           Walk all over me
  •             Enter at your own risk - Free access
  •             Knock before entering
  •      For sale
  •             Do not disturb
Setting personal boundaries for children

Some parents have crossed the line of parenting to friendship in a bid to get closer to them. Children must learn to recognise the authority placed on their parents, who in turn are expected set the pace for them to grow into healthy adults. It is good in a way when parents show themselves as role models and institute personal boundaries that the children can adopt, it makes them trusted as the children can understand why the boundaries were set in the first place

Creating personal boundaries for children involves consistency. This serves two major functions. One, it helps the child to grow up without being self-centered and secondly, the children are able to embrace the boundaries as being necessary. As children differs in age and reasoning, it is expected that parents set realistic boundaries that can be expanded or negotiated as the child grows older.

If this is not well moulded and cultured among children, it can lead to the destruction of the child.

Boundaries are stretched as children grow and gain new skills. It is important that the parent let the child knows the reason and the expected outcome of the personal boundaries set.
In addition, parents should train their children to know the power that personal boundaries gives, which is the option of choice. 

Once children understand that beneath each limits set are choices that can be generated, it enables them embrace such limits faster. Give children options for activities; setting parameters that fit the family’s budget, routine and family guidelines and learn not to compare or use other families as standard for their own.

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