Gehleigbe Bobson Bleh

Country: Liberia
Job title: Professor
Sector: Early Childhood Education and Child Welfare
Works with children: 0-8 years
Years of experience in his role: 9 years

If you could send one positive message to children and families/caregivers around the globe at these challenging times, what would it be?
I would like to tell children that they are unique, smart, and creative. They have all the abilities and potential of scientists! They can demonstrate these abilities through play.

Families and caregivers should be mindful of this fact and support children by engaging in play. Through play, we can teach children cognitive, social, and motor skills. We can also teach them to follow the rules and understand health protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finally, parents, caregivers, and governments should provide as much security for young children as possible right now. During the early years, their wellbeing is essential, and the impact of adverse conditions can last into their future.

If you could send one positive message to your colleagues around the globe at these challenging times, what would it be?
I would tell my colleagues that, despite the mandate to stay home, children are always learning. Children create their own learning activities with materials they see around them. Almost every day, I observe children playing with toys they make and engaging in pretend play. I have also learned that the best thing parents and caregivers can do is to "flow" with them, providing a scaffold to enhance their learning and wellbeing.

What are you learning during these times as an individual and a professional?
One of the things I am learning about children during this time is that children organize learning activities through play daily -- all on their own!

I have discovered that so much of a child's learning occurs through play. My 12-year-old daughter, an 8th-grade student, does some beautiful drawings in her notebooks. She has been sharing them with me during the lockdown. She also uses scissors to cut cloths and make them into dresses. She is naturally creative; all I have to do is to appreciate and encourage her.

What would you like people to know and understand about your work during the COVID-19 pandemic?
I would like for people to know that children in my community have been staying home, without any form of formal schooling, since March 2020 due to COVID-19. Unlike many other places, children in my community have no access to any form of formal education, such as learning online and organized homeschooling.

We have discovered that even though kids are not going to school, they are actively learning through play.

We organized an informal intervention program to help parents work with their children, encourage them, and engage them in playful activities.We ask parents to integrate information about how to prevent the spread of COVID-19  into children's activities. They can play with building blocks, set up the kitchen for pretend cooking, play with local toys, and so on. Parents should encourage their young children to play and engage older children in different forms of play as well.

What concerns you the most now, and what concerns you most for the upcoming period?
Some things concern me in my community. The first thing is access to resources that parents can use at home with their children to keep them engaged in learning activities. These are things like crayons, pencils, papers, clay, reading books, etc. The second thing that concerns me is the future of young children. The current situation is raising some questions: will our world ever be free of COVID-19? And, what would be the outcomes for our children's education in terms of formal education? Finally, what are educators, scientists, and child development professionals finding out as they research different ways to formally teach young children? If a new format of learning is developed to help children continue learning from home, it would ease the concerns many parents have right now.

I am also concerned about the health and welfare of children growing up in vulnerable circumstances, homes where parents cannot afford to feed and provide medical care for their children. Recently, there have been alarming incidents of violence perpetrated against young children, especially girls. The wellbeing of children is at stake in my country during this COVID-19.