ST. GEORGES, Grenada, Tues. Nov. 2: Fulfilling a promise to return with relief supplies, Coordinator for the Mobile Caregivers Program, Erva Hastick, recently distributed more than sixty food hampers to families in the parish of St. David. The MCP is a regional parenting skills program that is coordinated by the Caribbean Support Initiative of Barbados, with funding from the Bernard Van Leer Foundation, the Netherlands and CARICAD, Barbados. At present, St. David is only area in which the program operates, and the funding agency saw it fitting to assist the families following the passage of Hurricane Ivan. Within two weeks, the Foundation made a monetary contribution of US$12,000 to help the children and the workers in the program return to normalcy. On Saturday and Sunday, Hastick went to the homes of 78 families and presented the hampers, which contained food and clothing. Later in the month, head of households will be receiving monetary assistance to aid them in rebuilding their houses. Forty-eight of the 78 homes of the families involved in the program were totally destroyed by Hurricane Ivan. Under the program, trained caregivers visits the homes of children between one and three to educate them about early childhood development. CSI is a five-year regional program with a thematic focus on parenting initiatives in early childhood development. The goal is to change inappropriate childrearing practices in the region. SOURCE: HARDBEATNEWS.COM