By Saruul Davaajav
A Chance Discovery in Adelaide
In November 2016, when I was living in Adelaide, Australia, I visited the local neighborhood playgroup at the Darlington Children’s Centre with my toddler, Bodio, 13 months. On the table in the playgroup room, there were some brochures about the parent programs. That was the first time I read about the Circle of Security Parenting Program (COSP), an 8-chapter research based series of workshops. I had never heard about a parenting program.
Even back in my teenage years, I had always known these ideas were something in my heart and that nurturing was important. I still remember the first day when I attended the COSP group with 5 other caregivers and the facilitator, Tanieka. Since then, I have been talking about the COS roadmap to my friends and relatives in Mongolia.
One year after completing the course, I decided to become a COSP facilitator myself. Luckily, I had a chance to take the COSP Facilitator training in Adelaide in October, 2017. It was satisfying to learn more about the Circle at a deeper level. I felt excited and, on the other hand, I felt frightened about how to introduce these concepts to Mongolians. The ideas of COSP are very different from traditional ways of parenting in my culture. On returning to Mongolia in 2018, I launched COSP to locals. It has been easy to teach people about the Circle. Since then, I have helped provide this new information to many Mongolians including more than 80 parents and early education professionals. I now have no doubt that this program shall be a vital investment for Mongolians. I look forward to continuing this important work and to impact parents and future generations so they are compassionate and aware individuals.
