 |
| Multipurpose room at Elonwabeni |
For my activist project, Manuela,
Kiya, Val, Ava and I decided to volunteer our time at Elonwabeni Child & Family Centre.
During orientation, we spent two days touring and viewing the different
internship placements to better understand where our cohorts would be working
and to gain a better understanding of what they may be doing. Elonwabeni was
one of the placements that stuck out in my mind for its distressing nature. The
children in this centre have either been abused, physically or sexually, or
their parents may not be able to properly care for them due to alcohol, drugs,
what have you. During our tour, we heard
about the struggles of the children from this tiny room, which seemed to have
the function of acting as a closet and holding a bunch of random things like
tables, chairs, brooms, etc. When getting a further tour of the premises, it
was difficult seeing how little the children had and how many children needed
the services the centre provides. There is no privacy, and there is no space
for anyone to go and be by themselves. For this reason, we intend to repurpose
the room as a space for the older kids to go and hangout, do homework, have
their friends over, and make it a safe-space for them to get away from the
chaos they have to deal with.
Last Friday, we went to the
centre to interview the older girls in order to see what exactly they wanted
from the space to make sure that we could help bring their vision to life. The
mundaneness of the answers is what shocked me the most; these girls just want
nail polish, cd’s, hair supplies, and makeup to occupy their time. They even
showed an interest in painting and designing a color scheme. At the heart of
it, the girls are just trying to live as conventional of a life as possible. While
we were with them, we also got to know them better, on a more personal level. We
talked to one girl about how she does not want to go to an all girls high
school, and another about how she platted her hair. At one point, I took out my
phone to take pictures of the room in order to be able to have evidence as to
how the room looked before we started the project, and all the girls ran over
asking to take their picture. After having a mini-photo-shoot, they were
beaming looking at the photos of themselves. They all began to chime in on which
wall they wanted what picture and commented on how silly some of our poses
were.
 |
| Tina with some new friends |
 |
| Having fun |
Although at surface value, this
project may just seem as though we are redecorating a room, it is so much more
than that. The hope is that this space will become a haven of sorts, a place
where the girls can just be kids and act their age. To see the look on their
faces when asking them what do you
want to see in this room was so incredibly validating. It showed the intent of
the project, which is to give back to the community and have a lasting impact,
which we expect to do through this space. To try and put myself in their shoes
is something I struggle with, so I can only imagine how much this idea of
having a place of their own means to them, and once it is a reality how it will
ultimately alter the way they go about their daily lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment