Across Colombia, Children Change Colombia and Blossom & Berry are collaborating to train local leaders in nurturing touch techniques, giving them the necessary skills and qualifications to become facilitators and to lead workshops that allow parents and caregivers to build strong emotional bonds with young children.
Grounded in the understanding that early trauma and exposure to violence can severely impact a child’s development, the project aims to challenge misconceptions about child-rearing that can stem from outdated parenting methods, economic hardships and social inequalities. Research shows that a loving, caring environment can be as critical for a child’s development as basic needs such as food and shelter, and the Nurturing Touch Project seeks to aid parents and children in developing this foundational part of life.
The project content is based on the Teach Love programme, which covers nurturing touch techniques for various developmental stages: newborns, babies and young children, covering a range of approximately 0-7 years old.
The Teach Love programme consists of three stages that allow participants to:
- Cultivate knowledge about early childhood development and the importance of love and responsive care.
- Build confidence in their facilitating skills.
- Communicate and share what they learn to make a positive impact in their communities.
The programme includes almost 20 participants, including staff and volunteers from CCC, alongside representatives from several other organisations and foundations in Colombia. Initial training began online in September 2024, and participants are now beginning to complete the course. The role of the facilitator will be to teach massage movements with a demonstration doll, while the parent or guardian performs the same movements on their own baby. For older children, massage movements can be taught with cushions or indeed other adults, and children are also encouraged to practice these techniques peer-to-peer or with their caregivers.
There are a number of specific benefits that these practices bring:
- Nurturing touch is only done with a baby’s consent, and communicates security and builds a foundation of trust and good mental health.
- Massage also aids nutrient absorption for good digestion, boosts circulation and stimulates all the senses to support brain development.
- For babies, sunflower or coconut oil can be used to nourish the skin and allow better flow of massage movements
Upon graduation, the aim is for these newly trained facilitators to deliver at least 50 in-person workshops across Bogotá, Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Santa Marta, with a goal of reaching a minimum of 100 children in 2025.
Kevin, one of CCC’s staff members, has just become the first to complete the course, and he had some words and thoughts to share about his overall experience with the Nurturing Touch Project.
‘This process has been, without a doubt, one of the most significant projects that I have been able to be a part of this year’ he said, remarking that he found it much more than just a series of activities, but instead a transformative and loving experience not just for the children he worked with, but for himself as well. He observed how the children at first responded with curiosity towards the massage movements and use of touch that they worked with in their sessions, and as the workshops progressed, the children developed a shared sense of respect for the body. One memorable moment came after an impromptu game of football when a boy told him, ‘We didn’t win, but I liked how we could have fun. The girls didn’t push us around and likewise, we didn’t either’. To Kevin, this simple statement showed that even outside of the main activities, the children were taking the core lesson of respect for others to heart.
That being said, the programme wasn’t without its challenges. Kevin noted that activities involving physical contact could descend into teasing and laughter, which is normal for children of that age. However, these moments also highlight the importance of these sessions in exposing children to safe, consensual touch and reinforcing the need for spaces that normalise healthy physical interaction. More troubling for Kevin was noting how normalised physical abuse is for some children in their games, with many seeing pushing as ‘normal’ and just how games are played, which emphasises the need to expand the program and spread a better example of what respectful interactions look like.
Kevin expressed deep gratitude to Children Change Colombia and Blossom & Berry for their support and vision, and gave special mention to Sandra Fernández Conde, the director of the Blossom & Berry Spanish Division, for her constant encouragement and generosity across the project.
He finally reflected: “The mark that they are leaving with this message is real and can be felt in every embrace, in every song, in every movement that the boys and girls have created”.
Written by Arthur Mawer | CCC Programmes Intern
