As youth workers we do not only work with young people but are also working with parents, we have to acknowledge that young people operate/live/develop outside of the time that they are with us, sometimes youth workers think they are the ‘be all’ and ‘end all’ of influence over young peoples lives, youth workers with some sort of messiah complex! Therefore it is always important to monitor and evaluate our time with young people to ensure that it is the most it can be and it is a truly effective use of our time and theirs. This is a picture for Wednesday night dinner with 4 young volunteers, a very special time with deep conversation about life, in this conversation Fiona and I were able to raise questions about the assumptions that the young people had made about a number of issues, sharpening and helping them to develop their world view rather just accepting what they have been told. Youth work in context is amazing, but it should always be in context.

Often when I have people come to visit me I take them around the Teviot estate, and often people comment ‘it doesn’t look too bad around here’ what they mean is they think it looks ‘respectable’ whatever this might be, or it looks like a ‘nice’ place to live whatever this might be, inferring they can’t see the poverty they might have expected or been told about. Sometimes I think people expect have an image in their minds of poverty and I suspect it does not tally with what they see on the Teviot. This is an excerpt from a recent application:

The Canaan Project runs centre-based youth club sessions, off-site activities, and detached youth work on the streets of the Teviot Estate in the East India & Lansbury ward in Poplar, Tower Hamlets. This ward is the second most deprived in London, and 88% of its Super Output Areas are in the worst 10% areas of England. It has the highest levels of child poverty in the country. (Index of Deprivation, 2010) …. The project works with a diverse group of young people aged 11 – 19, 60% of whom are Bangladeshi; Somalis make up a growing minority ethnic group in the area, and there are tensions between these two groups. Although, overall, Tower Hamlets’ educational results have improved greatly, and the number of NEETs (Not in Employment, Education or Training) has fallen, Poplar has the borough’s lowest educational and post-16 achievements. (‘THIS Borough’ – Tower Hamlets Information Service)

This tells you of some of the indicators to poverty in the Teviot there is also other evidence of diversity that people in the Teviot face, gathered through the stories of the young people we work with, some of the young people have said they have to share their bedrooms with other siblings, often meaning there is overcrowding with large families in small flats or that they often translate for their parents, with English as a second language, or about the lack of opportunity, for example for some of the young people they have not left East London ever! Never got on the underground and gone across London let alone leave London!

The Canaan Project is about getting behind the nice shiny sign (which we still think is important) and meeting with the people behind the facade and helping them not to experience poverty in the way they are currently facing it.

An example of this is when the Canaan Project think we have something we think would be ‘good’ for the young people, like a new experience that they might develop or grow from, whether that be through new knowledge or new experience. Examples of these might be a trip to an Architect so they can explain about their job and what they do, or it might be completing a High Ropes course (blogged about a couple of weeks ago, here). It requires trust from young people and this is only developed in relationship with young people which is only developed from listening to and acting upon the needs of young people even if this is making Brownies! Making Brownies is essential work, and might only seem like a small and maybe even insignificant part of the work but isn’t.

We have all experienced wanting something and believing that if only we can get that thing we will be satisfied, only to discover that when we do finally get it, its not all we had hoped it would be. We regularly witness young people pursuing “glitter” in many forms; things that appear shiny and desirable and may lead to some short term pleasure or satisfaction but ultimately leaves them disappointed. Despite our best efforts to help young people think through all the factors involved in the decisions they face, we cant make decisions for them or always protect them from the consequences of those decisions. But these experiences all form part of the learning process and can be redeemed and we continue to walk alongside young people to help them reflect on these experiences, learn from them and reassess their direction, hopefully reaching for things that will bring them longer term satisfaction and fulfillment.

Fiona

This was a journey that we walked together with the young people, to identify behaviour that they thought was acceptable, which came down to three categories; Respect for other members, respect for the leaders/workers, and respect for the club (physical building) and equipment (the photo above are the notes from the session). We then said what we would offer the young people, so it was a contract between us and them, the young people then decided sanctions for breaking the contact (so often when we do this they are harsh, more harsh than we might be as youth workers).

To be honest we did not have high hopes for the above session and as normal the young people really surprised us and engaged in the process and seemed to listen, unfortunately one of the young people broke the contract with in 5 minutes and ended up getting kicked out of the sanctions. I really believe in these processes because they are encouraging young people to develop and make decisions for themselves part of the development into adulthood, and also these kind of boundaries may only be enforced in the youth club and other times in their lives throughout the week they may have a lack of boundaries.

It was also interesting how this impacted on the community and it’s other members of the community, including parents and other related adults. Also on the night i spoke to at least 4 members of the wider community about the young people, local community politics and plans for the future, including speak to a local business lady about the possibility of some work experience for young people. Just being there on the street enabled all this community working and networking to happen, all part of the wholistic work of the Canaan Project.

The learning from this experience is huge for this young woman and others like her; that if they persevere they can succeed at what might initially look like impossible or unachievable tasks and achieve what they set their minds to. We expose young people to these experiences because we believe they offer learning for life, impacting future choices that we as youth workers may never witness them make. It is such important work and makes such a difference to young people that often have limited opportunities because of the situation and area they might have been born into. The Canaan Project is about reddressing this imbalance. The pictures above and below are great metaphors for what we are trying to do at the Canaan Project; lending a hand for young people to bridge the gap!

Some of our work is about breaking down these barriers and helping young people to process these negative messages and finding acceptance. ‘Hugging a Hoodie’ is not the same as sitting down with them and building a relationship with them hearing their stories and looking at the individual. These trusting relationships is what will make a difference for some young people and could lead to feelings of acceptance. Some young people are likely to affiliate with gangs (I use the term lightly and cautiously – could just be groups of young people) because they feel accepted by those young people, rather than judged. This only affects some young people, but universally all young people (and Adults) like/need to feel accepted and as they move into adulthood they find this from a variety of sources and the Canaan Project helps some young people along on this journey of acceptance.

Again, not to reinvent the wheel but point out a campaign that continues to inspire me – the 99 Per Cent Campaign. Positive news stories about amazing and beautiful young people.

Treating young people as unique and not as a pack/gang in my experience commands a different response. This becomes apparent when we do not know young people and they are difficult. For example the other day 3 girls came to the door of the youth club and wanted to start a fight with 3 young women in the youth club, we only knew 1 of the young women outside and the responses of the one that knew us were clearly different from the other 2 that we did not know, with threats and physical aggression. RELATIONSHIP is KEY and a unique approach is essential. Celebrating the unique and working with it breeds trust and trust gives foundation to relationship and relationship is the ground upon which we can challenge, educate, listen and accept young people.

This new creation and sense of achievement can be really important for young people to build on, learning that you are able to create even a small thing can give confidence to create larger things, like jobs or qualifications. Creativity is also important for relaxation and fostering an entrepreneurial spirit, and can lead to developing aspirations. Some young people are not very often given the space to develop creative ideas and some of them are really great at it! The Canaan Project exists to give young people space to develop these skills and the safe space to grow in confidence and self esteem through being creative. All that from a piece of unleavened bread!