Natural disasters, poverty, social and political problems continue to undermine many efforts of volunteer organizations and other agencies to arrest these problems. Family Fest was formed with a vision to create strong families by way of four pillars: Help; Hope; Healing and Happiness. This article looks at the first of these: HELP. It will touch briefly on some core elements to show how starting with the family will create a ripple effect to restore harmony and stability within our communities.   

HELP!

When someone cries for HELP, what exactly does it mean? Let us first look at the definition described in the Oxford Lexicon: 

1. Make it easier for someone to do something by offering one’s service or resources
2. Serve someone with food or drink.

Certainly, these definitions suggest that the provider of the service and commodity must possess knowledge or awareness of the recipient’s needs in order to help. Performing acts of kindness require that we understand that these needs could range from the very basic to the more complex depending on the prevailing situation. 

What creates or drives a person to need HELP? Life experiences, loss of a job, illness; disability, physical and emotional abuse, forms of self-destructive habits such as substance abuse are all threats to a stable family environment. These will demand different remedies based on external circumstances or individual differences.

An examination of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs shows us that one’s basic needs begin with the physiological until the highest potential of self-fulfilment is reached. To achieve all of this, one must be able to determine the type of help or support to be dispensed so that persons can graduate from one level to the next even as they seek to balance the complexity of their lives. 

Family Fest believes that the actualization of each of these begins with the family. Therefore, it will offer a problem-solving approach that pays attention to the well being of troubled families and provide them with strong moral, ethical and spiritual support. The first step in its mission offers HELP to address the threats that stop the family from actualizing these needs and consequently from helping our society to be a better place to live.

We have stated that HELP also speaks to a spiritual attribute that contributes to community building through strong families. Christianity instructs in Mathew 7:12 that “In everything, do unto others as you would have them do to you, for this is the law and the prophets.” The core values of Family Fest promote emotional and physical safety facilitated by a solid spiritual foundation. Therefore, helping others must not only be about solving a problem but it must also be about tuning up the internal morale to nurture that spiritual connection. Persons must be encouraged to help because it is the right thing to do.

 “Somewhere along the way, we must learn that there is nothing greater than to do something for others.” 

Martin Luther King Jr.

Practising small acts of kindness daily to help each other, builds strong connections within families. This extends into the wider society to cause a shared oneness. The impact of this behaviour is reciprocal as the giver and the receiver share the struggles and triumph throughout the experience to reach a desirable outcome. Mother Theresa advised: “Never worry about numbers, help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you”.  These are the ultimate goals of Family Fest.

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