During the course of our daily distributions, members of the SCAW team do interviews with parents of the children who received the bedkits, using
an interpreter. One purpose of the interview is to get some background
information about the living conditions of the family. The questions
include how many adults and children live in the home, how do they deal
with health and weather challenges and what their future hopes are for
their children regarding education.
Another purpose is to obtain feedback on the component parts of the bedkit.
The questions include what is their favourite item, least favourite
item and what other items would they like to see in future bedkits if possible.
The major challenges facing the families is Denge fever and the flu. Many parents chose the mosquito net as their favourite item because this could help reduce sickness from Denge fever. Another challenge the families face is the rainy season because everything gets wet and stays wet for many months. Notwithstanding this challenge some parents said that they still look forward to the rainy season so they can obtain drinking water much more easily.
It is interesting to hear that most families sleep on one queen size mattress. They are very appreciative of the mattress being part of the bedkit because not only does it help the child receiving the bedkit, it also helps the remaining family members.
But one thing was very clear during the interview process. When asked for input, each parent was reluctant to "criticize" the contents of the bedkit because they were all grateful for each and every item. It was not unusual for parents to be brought to tears saying they are so poor and they have nothing bad to say about the contents of the bedkit.
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