Special Dads Day.

Ubuntu is an organization that is centered around community. Our goal has always been to create a vibrant and strong community that supports one another. So on the 26th of July, we had a special day at the Children Wellness Center hosting the fathers of children with disabilities. Fathers were given a platform to come and share their experience on what it’s like today as a father of one of our kids. As there is such a stigma around disability within our community, many fathers do not have available information to them about the disabilities that their child and their friends' children go through every day. So it was our goal to raise awareness as well as to give relevant information on the various disabilities of their Kids. 54 dads were invited to the event, but on the day we saw that  only 21 showed up. This shows a huge gap when it comes to dads involvement and mothers involvement where the turn out is always very high. This is the divide that the conference was seeking to bridge. We want our dads to know that there’s nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to their children. That there is a network of dads who are ready to support each other emotionally  or any other way they would need. The day was a huge success and we were able to teach our fathers a myriad of ways they can better take care of themselves and their children. It was such a humbling opportunity to hear them share their stories, especially our key guest speaker Mr. David who has a child with Down Syndrome. Most fathers could relate to his story so they felt as if he was speaking to them personally. This allowed other dads who were previously silent to speak up, and we could see that relief in their eyes as they shared something that they’ve stored inside for years. We enjoyed seeing the dads realizing how much shared experiences they have and what a network they have to support one another, and that was the entire goal of the day. Closing up, we emphasized how important it is for a child to have their father being present and active in their life. This means being intentional and walking with their child as they go through this journey. We hope to have a larger presence of fathers in our foundation, and we believe this conference is a gateway to getting rid of stigma, and opening the door to more participation from fathers. As we schedule more meetings with the school and the therapist, we hope to see more of a presence from our fathers as we can see just how much they love their kids.