Picture this: You grow up in a family where neglect, sexual abuse, domestic violence and the use of alcohol are commonplace. After years you will experience this as "normal". One day you are taken out of this situation and you may suddenly start to feel safe and loved. You may even start talking about the things that were "bad". But what is "bad" and what kind of love is normal? This confusion has caused O. (girl, 12 years old) to create high walls inside. She can't talk about it.
One day I was walking down the hall at Goeie Hoop and saw holes in the wall. It turned out that O. was the cause of this. This could just indicate the walls within herself. Since she can't talk about it, tearing down walls literally happens.
During the homework support we had seen her a few times grumpy. When something didn't work out, she gave up, packed her things and left. "I'm stupid anyway," she would say. When she repeated this one day, a volunteer said, "Every child is born stupid, but at school you learn the things you need to know. Each child learns differently, some learn faster than others. "O. nodded, as if she understood. The volunteer continued, "Do you believe in God?" She beamed and replied with a resounding "Yes!" To which the volunteer said, "God made you and He loves you just the way you are." She hasn't called herself stupid ever since.
A week later she asks if we can help her prepare a presentation. She needs to get going, but it works. A positive experience for her. In fact, at the moment she comes straight to us from school to go to work together. We use M & amp; M's to make calculations clearer. This contributes to her motivation. We are happy that she is doing better!
by Janine Stam (volunteer "Goeie Hoop")
11/12/2015
