E d u c a t i o n M a t t e r s
Comprehension W
Beyond their
hether you are a father or a mother, when you go away on ops, just how do the children cope? Gerry Waters a
Service wife and daughter, has taken the initiative by producing two books in the hope of helping to smooth the way.
Gerry says: “My Mummy Is a Soldier is a book written specifically for young Armed Forces children to help them understand the deployment of their mummy. It follows the successful release of my first book My Daddy Is a Soldier towards the end of last year. With public pressure from the serving female cadre the new book went on sale in May”.
Gerry Waters is a Service person through and through. Brought up in an Army family, she married a soldier, as did her daughter. Having always lived within the military community she accepted the deployments of first her father and then her husband. But when her granddaughter, Shay, started to ask questions about where her daddy was, during his tour in Afghanistan, Gerry started to ask herself if she was able to do anything to help young children deal with the difficulty of separation that is an inevitable part of life within a military family.
Her books show simply that, although mummy or daddy is going and would be away for a while, they would come back. Gerry says of the books: “I can’t believe how well they have been received, it’s been amazing. I can count on one hand the welfare books available specifically for our community and am as yet unaware of any exclusively for mummy Service personnel. I also wanted to redress the fact that females in the military, as the minority, often feel they are overlooked.”
The books follow an easy-to-read and photographic template . The story is told in simple text and the main character tells you the story of parents deployed on operations.
16 Autumn 2009
www.raf-ff.org.uk
The pictures are well composed with a military flavour and are recognisable to readers young and old making the book a joy for all ages to read.
The Afghan Appeal Fund benefits from the sales of both books. President of the Afghan Appeal Fund Lady Caroline, wife of General Sir David Richards, Chief of the General Staff says, “Gerry Waters has found that magic formula of humour in the face of difficulties encountered by small children when their parents deploy. It helps them to come to terms with a situation beyond their comprehension – and gives them the comfort
and reassurance in seeing that an absent loved one will return – despite some tears in the short term.
I would also like to thank Gerry for supporting the Afghan Appeal Fund, which strives to help children in Afghanistan – who may not even have the opportunity of owning a small book like this. Our Service personnel are in Afghanistan to help provide a better future, not just for Afghan children – but a safer world for all our children. Thank you Gerry – Service wife and grandmother – congratulations!”
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