Amazing daycare for demanding times

By: Umm Ahmed

Gone are the days of the breadwinner dad and the stay at home mum living in a utopia afforded by that one income. Many of us can no longer afford that luxury as we find the need to contribute to the ever growing cost of living, and then of course, there are many women who are the breadwinners.

The demands of motherhood, however, have not changed with the times. Women today find ourselves with the dilemma of where to leave the kids and that nagging guilt in the back of our minds as we leave them.

Additionally, there is the double whammy of those who need to find work to support their kids and yet have to find and pay for care as they job search. Finding a job can be difficult, especially for new migrants.

Over her years as a community worker and councillor to migrant women, Deeqo Omar, a former refugee, found this to be an all-too familiar trend. Since the inability to return to the workforce and/or unemployment was on account of the children, then why not facilitate a system where the ladies looked after kids professionally? Following this epiphany, Ms Omar founded Amazing Family Day Care (AFDC).

Deeqo founded AFDC in 2011, as Australia’s first multicultural family day care scheme. Her program supports migrant women amongst others with the skills and training needed to work in child care, specifically running their own family day care businesses as educators. AFDC now employs over 120 educators, caring for hundreds of children from migrant backgrounds including Sudan, Somalia and the Middle East, in NSW and the ACT.

Operating a Family Day Care is a win-win situation, for both the educators and parents.

Educators are able to find employment in a profession they’re experienced in and passionate about – a clear solution to the problem of interviewers asking for experience when no employer is willing to give that experience. Importantly, many educators who are mums themselves are able to get paid looking after other children as they look after their own. This allows them to witness their child’s development while benefitting from the provided training on how to better raise them. Imagine a job that gives you the luxury of taking your child to excursions while getting paid for looking after the other kids.

According to Teresa Ganner, Co-ordinator at AFDC, “By operating a Family Day Care, you are not only providing so many individual rich experiences for each child in your care, you are also able to care for your own children”.

On the other side are the parents who obtain a child care service that is linguistically and culturally suitable, offering them an opportunity to have input into their child’s early childhood learning. Parents like Melissa Jane, a working mother of three, have found flexibility and convenience at AFDC. Melissa states, “Amazing FDC has allowed me the unparalleled flexibility of working hours beyond school finish times, with the advantage of my children being picked up from school, being well taken care of and receiving extra-curricular activities of my choice It has also allowed for my children to be able to attend Quran classes after school, without affecting my work hours. I would highly recommend Amazing FDC when it comes to superior care for children.”

Due to the success of AFDC, its founder, Ms Omar, has won the 2011 Humanitarian of the Year Award for Business from the NSW Refugee Council and has been nominated as Australian of the Year for 2013.

In addition, AFDC has received a grant from the federal government’s National Workforce Development Fund to train the educators in Certificate III in childcare.

By virtue of experience, AFDC has streamlined and organised its training methods and resources in an effort to save educators time, hassle and money. In addition, parents are able to take comfort in the knowledge that their children are in the care of proficient educators.

If you are interested in the training and employment, culturally and linguistically suitable and affordable childcare offered by the Lakemba, Sydney based AFDC, please feel free to contact AFDC:

Website: www.amazingfdc.com.au

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amazingfdc

Phone: (02) 9675 2435 / 0434 638 616

Amazing Family Day Care – Useful Links: