Grandmothers: A Learning Institution - Basic Education and Policy ...

­I. INTRODUCTION“There is probably no other role that is so nearly universal yet soheterogeneously defined as grandparenthood”SmolakPromoting the education, health, andwell-being of children in developingcountries is a priority for governments, many civil society groups, and internationalorganizations. While almost allchildren are embedded in family and communitystructures, in most cases developmentprograms narrowly target children,often mothers, and in some cases parents.Grandparents are present in all communities,and in all societies they are expectedto contribute significantly to the growthand development of children. The roles ofgrandfathers and grandmothers are gender-specificand it is the senior women, orgrandmothers, who are expected to play apredominant role given their own experiencebearing and educating children. Childfocuseddevelopment efforts, however,rarely acknowledge or involve these experiencedresource persons in programs.The Swedish communicologist, AndreasFuglesang (1982) referred to grandmothersas a veritable “learning institution,”alluding to their vast experience and theroles they play in transmitting to youngergenerations the knowledge and skillsrequired to survive in each society.While there appear to be few developmentprograms that have explicitlyinvolved grandmothers as resource persons,in the community health field therehave been several recent and very positiveexperiences. In Laos, Senegal, and Mali,grandmothers played key roles in healthpromotion strategies.The results of each ofthese experiences revealed that grandmotherswere open to new ideas andpractices when appropriate nonformaleducation methods were used and thatthey were able to learn and change theiradvice and practices.Evaluations of these community healthprograms showed that the involvement ofgrandmothers contributed to improvinghousehold maternal and child health practices.For example, in a nutrition educationprogram in Senegal, in households wheregrandmothers were involved in the nonformalactivities, more than 90 percent ofall infants were appropriately breastfed(they were given only breast milk for thefirst six months; exclusive breastfeeding).Conversely, in families where grandmotherswere excluded from educational activitieswith younger women, only about 30percent of these women reported thatthey were able to exclusively breastfeedtheir infants (Aubel et al, 2004). Positiveresults using a grandmother-inclusiveapproach were also documented in Maliwhere grandmothers were involved innonformal education activities on newbornhealth, and in Laos where they participatedGRANDMOTHERS:THE LEARNING INSTITUTION1