I had the opportunity to go work with 'troubled' teenagers from Essex/London area in The Lake District and obviously I jumped at the opportunity. Working with kids is something that really does make my heart full but I'd never actually worked with 13/14 year olds so I was a little bit apprehensive.
Although this trip only lasted a week it was such an amazing week with so many highs but the occasional low. This blog post is for anyone to read but it's also a little reminder to me of the differences that can be made to a child's life in such a short time frame just by providing love, compassion and kindness.
On Saturday morning we left for The Lake District with a mini bus crammed full of 12 nervous/excited teenagers. At this point in time I was sat on the bus thinking 'oh god, I can work with kids but these are so different, they're mini adults' there was swearing, shouting, phones and general teenage chat, not something I'd experienced before. Little did I know by the end of the day I'd already be seeing a change in these kids.
That night, after a seven hour drive we were straight out for a night time hike along the mountain edge. Something I don't overly enjoy is walking late at night because I'm so clumsy (I know it may sound stupid but I'm recklessly clumsy, trust me). It was the first time I'd got to properly talk to these kids and I got to learn a lot more about them.
The first 'growth' that struck me was the boy who didn't talk to anyone or mutter a word unless you asked him directly, who hadn't talked during the six week course prior to this. This kid by the end of the first day was dancing weirdly, whacking a pair of socks on my head and just generally joking about.
On the Sunday we were up early for our first hike, we were hiking up to a peak, having lunch and then hiking back down. Easy right? Ha ha ha, no. This day made me think 'what the hell have I done?' forget the kids just the walking of this was SO challenging. but walking like this allows you to see the team work starting to worm its way in, kids were helping each other and me cos obviously i'm a cluts. Hiking up for me personally was fine but coming down not so much, I ended up on my butt a few times.
I always find saying no to kids when they ask you to try something difficult, how can you expect them to try something if you wont sign yourself up for it? So before I know it I was jumping down the mountain with slate under my feet. God was I bricking it but if kids are yelling "GO ON JESS!! YOU GOT THIS!" You can hardly say no, can you now?
Yeah I was happy to get back to the safety of the cottage. One thing I wanted to mention here was one of the boys jumpers. This part is more just for me but this kid didn't moan, they didn't mention anything but I did. The jumper didn't smell...great, so I asked if I could hand wash it. I took it up to my shower and washed it out and the water ran a dark mud colour for a solid five minutes. I was so shocked to thing that a child was living like this, I'd heard of it but I'd never seen it first hand and it honestly broke my heart. But that small gesture of washing the jumper made their day. I think it's so important to remember things like that to centre you when you feel a bit down.
Oh Monday and Tuesday, oh the joy!!! This was our exhibition days, where we'd hike up the mountain, camp out and hike back down. My lord I have never been so cold in my whole entire life but the kids amazed me so much.
One kid the bag was bigger than them but they made it the whole way up to the top, all the kids truly amazed me. We weren't camping out with tents just a sleeping bag and a bivy bag - in the middle of December mind! This wasn't my favourite night, I don't like being cold but I'm so proud of everyone. Plus look at the photos below to see the amazing morning fog!
On the Tuesday afternoon we checked out a pretty cool landmark, it's similar to the stonehenge just not as big but older (I basically wanted to stick this photo in lol).
Wednesday morning, oh the joys! This day started off so well, we hiked up to a waterfall, explored mines and just had a really nice morning. The kids were all brave and we all went under the waterfall despite the freezing conditions. It was so much fun, the walk was dotted with quartz and the kids all loved the waterfall.
On the walk back from the waterfall I think I nearly died about three times, not being dramatic at all...
The first time I slipped and rolled down the side of the mountain about three times, the second I landed flat on my butt and oh the third time I was walking back on the pavement and I somehow fell over and tore the ligaments in my right ankle. Forget the mountains, forget the waterfalls, it was the pavement that got me! Although this really sucked and I had become the running joke of the group (as always) "Jess needs two helmets" "Jess is so clumsy!" and "Everyone watch out Jess is coming." it really showed how much the kids had grown over the week.
When I first went down it was just me and the kids, they all stopped and checked I was okay, they were all so shocked and worried. They all just wanted to help, something I'm not sure if it'd be the same case of on the first day. They were all amazing. As I got up with a ballooned ankle they all cared so much, one child who comes from a difficult background and sometimes finds it difficult to show compassion left the group to help me over puddles and muddy slopes, bare in mind this kid is about 5ft and I'm not far from 6ft.
Because I'd managed to stick myself in the hospital for an x-ray I had to miss out on the afternoon is Keswick, I was honestly so gutted. The kids came home and were all beaming when they saw me. I know this doesn't sound much but bare in mind these kids don't come from much, they don't have tons of money but they came back with two bars of Aero for me. This again just shows the change over the week and how much they'd grown.
On the Thursday I couldn't hike, for obvious reasons but I sure did miss those kids. When they got back we had a reflection period and they all had such amazingly sweet things about everyone. Shock, I cried. I don't think you realise when you work with kids just what an impact you can have on them, you don't have to go the extra mile even for some kids. Sometimes just being there is enough. I gave one child without going into detail some of my bits like deodorant, a lip balm, a perfume, etc and they said it was like an early Christmas present.
This week truly taught me a lot, one I'm stronger than I thought. Two, it reinforced my love for kids. Finally, it taught me that you don't have to do anything sometimes to have an impact, just by being a good person you can have an impact on their life. Choose kindness, always.
