Longlife Separation from children can cause early intellectual disability, anxiety —Testimony

Elias Hakizimana Jul 26, 2022Sep 19, 2022 0 Comments

By Alexia Bizumuremyi.

When Innocent Kwitonda and his wife were far a bit from their little daughter due to their job situation, the child could neither talk nor smile because of anxiety caused by lack of parental care.

The situation grew and took another level then the parents realized it was their big mistake to leave a child.

“I and my wife passed long time separated due to our job status; this affected much our daughter who is now five years old. She used to be with a housemaid and she suffered from anxiety. She grew up with different mental problems and I got opportunity to take her at Izere Mubyeyi Center in Nyarugunga-Kanombe, Kicukiro District.” Kwitonda told The Inspirer.

“I could worry if my child would return to the normal life situation, fortunately, after taking her at this center all the mental health challenges she had had ended. She had various mental challenges and she used to be alone and quiet. She could not love us as her parents because we used to be far from her for a long time.” He added.

Separation anxiety disorder exists when the anxiety symptoms are excessive for the developmental age and cause significant distress in daily functioning according to mksallc.com.

Advice to parents

Sometime back, Kwitonda used to educate parents about how they can cater for children through Early Child Development program (ECD) and used to tell them about negative impacts of separating from children. He later realized that what he taught them returned to his family.

“We decided to stop our jobs and come home closer to our child. We had put all our parental responsibilities on the shoulders of a housemaid, which is negative. So, we do not need to put our whole responsibilities to teachers and housemaids because children suffer from the impacts.” He said.

Izere Mubyeyi Center that helped the child to become to normal life is an inclusive school that cares for children and youth with disabilities through essential therapy and education services.

Agnes Mukashyaka, Founder and Executive Director of Izere Mubyeyi Center said that they started the center services in 2016, receiving children with intellectual disabilities only; and decided to welcome other children who have not disabilities since the beginning of 2022.