This post is part of the series about a 40 m2 (400 sft) mosaic mural project I'm working on with teens at a school in a 'disadvantaged' area of Rotterdam. I'll share with you what I'm experiencing and learning along the way. The first post about how I came to volunteer is here.
So today was the 1st 2-hour session. With 13 kids aged 13-15. Plus 2 teachers and a vice-principal sitting in. These kids were selected by various teachers from 2 sister schools as kids with enough gumption (determination and strong will) to come back 8-10 weeks in a row to make this 40 m2 mural. The kids didn't exactly volunteer to be a part of the project... So I had to win them over as well as gain their respect today. Oh, and convince them that they can DO it. So I started off by congratulating them all for being winners and for being chosen for this project.
It was a day for team-building, to get to know each other...and to find out who the "difficult" student was. And towards the end of the 2 hours, I found out who it was. Oh boy, did I ever! And I wasn't expecting a quiet, soft-spoken and petite 13 year old girl to be the tough one - small of statue but full of fight. I like her - I see her fight as a good quality and I predict that in 3 or so sessions she'll be the leader of the pack. This is a head-strong student who, I predict, will go far in life. She just has to do it on her own terms and find her way.
At the outset she said she wasn't creative (although she admitted that she could dance, which I retorted was creative). She resisted and wasn't enthusiastic. And by the end, when the vice principal asked all kids one by one what they thought of our first session together, she stated very plainly and clearly that she didn't think it was fun. Basta. So I asked her across the table (we were all in a big circle around two tables) if I should bother coming back next week. (By this point you could've heard a pin drop and slice the tension with a knife!) "Yes", she said flatly, "because everyone else enjoyed it."
(Now, I'm glad that my brother is a fencer in both words and sport, as he prepared me for this moment.) So I asked quite sternly if she would come back next week because I was just volunteering and could do other things with my time. "No", she said. (The room was silent). After a few more exchanges, I got her to promise to come next week otherwise I wouldn't come back. She agreed. And I saw a self-satisfied look in her eye as we reached a power-truce...and I know that I earned her respect. And that of the other kids as well, not to mention that of the vice principal and teachers, to boot! So it was good. And necessary.
So what did we actually DO today? Although they didn't realize it, today was not just a team building lesson but also a university-level color theory lesson with some philosophy thrown in. I just disguised it. I did it so that they're ready to create the design next week. And they CAN because now they understand how colors work together and how the eye blends them from a distance.
I'm so proud of them! And me, too.
One thing that never fails is that if we tell kids that we believe in them and that we're proud of them, they always succeed. Self-fulfilling prophecy. These kids are gonna "make" it in life, even the one who wants to become a millionaire by winning the lottery....
So what did I learn? That I CAN DO IT. And that I can ask others for help - so many other companies are donating time, materials, and expertise to help me make this project a reality. And I am both humbled and honored that I'm "allowed" to do this, even if I conjured it up and volunteered to do it.
This project is also serving to build MY self-confidence, not just that of the kids! And after this project I'll be ready for the juvenile delinquents before I "graduate" to the prison inmates (another project dream not yet manifested).
Believe you can...because YOU CAN!
Brit Hammer
in Building dreams
|
1 Comment
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments (1)