Today was another unbelievable experience and honestly bringing me so close to tears. Unfortunately though we didn't have the whole group but that didn't stop us from progressing through the project on a positive and it has been a positive two weeks so far. I can now say I'm more than happy with this group and I have found that the impact we can have on them is one in a million; not everyone gets a chance like I have now.
At the beginning it was business as usual and having a few more people in we would have to go around the circle again and learn each other's names which I feel is right only because you don't want the new people to feel left out like they aren't known when really and truly that's what we're trying to do. The first game we played was one I really enjoyed but at the end disliked as I kept on losing (Yup, I'm a sore loser) but it was a nice way to get people to know each other more. It was a game where someone would ask a question then another person would have to ask back another question but what they couldn't do was repeat the same question so throughout the time we played we just had one to one bantering in the room which was good as it boosted the morale. One thing that really proved effective but at the same time considerate was one moment where someone got asked 'How's your mum?' and the person responded back with a laughter which showed character and how he can handle a bit of banter but the only thing that I would say is make sure you're saying that to the right person as none of us know what happens in others' personal life.
The second half of lesson was about to begin but before that I thought it would be nice to blast some tunes in the room and to have a few of the young offenders come in and dance with me to the song I was playing was surprising but it was a moment/feeling I'll never forget. We were dancing for quite a while and to think that they have the same taste in music as us was really nice and that was just the beginning of the second half!
We were split into two halves; one would go off and create their own piece of music and the other would go and do some spoken word poetry which I joined in and I was blessed enough to have just the right person in my group. We heard a poem and it was all about young girls growing up and my view on that was and still is quite strong. Then after I made my point I had of the boys say 'Yeah, I really agree with Tuwaine on that one... I'm gonna change my ways and treat my sister better, talk to her more and that' and that's exactly what I wanted. To have the same view as someone wanting to make a change was one thing but to hear the poem and say that them themselves were 'moved', that really made my day..
The last activity we done which I really enjoyed as I love music was one full of promise for these guys. One individual in particular, Jack, was reluctant to get his lines out there and give us an encouraging bit of chorus then for him to play over a drum beat, guitar strumming and piano playing with his verses just showed that these people have so much potential no matter where they are or what position they are in. We all posses something special, we just have to find out what it is and use it at the right time. I am seriously wanting to actually help more youth offenders in the future hopefully as it will be an even more moving experience and to give them options for the future to help them change is exactly what I want.
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