10 Minutes That Made My Week

I feel the need to share a special10 minutes of my day with those that are interested:

For those that don't know, I work for a non-profit agency at a juvenile justice program for adolescent girls. Teenage girls can be very difficult to work with, and many people ask me how I do it. Usually I respond by saying that my heart has always been about youth services...I've been doing it for over 10 years (20 if you count coaching kids!). However, I always have those days that just make me feel angry or dejected or downright hopeless. The stories I could tell are full of heartbreak, trauma, turmoil, poverty, abuse, neglect..the list goes on. I am looked at as the paternal figure of the program, and for many of the girls, the only positive male figure they have.

Every once in a while, even this stern "tough" guy breaks down and sheds a tear or two. Usually it is while listening to the stories of the girls we work with, but every once in a while it is because of what the girls accomplish. Today I watched 5 of "my" girls put on an African drumming presentation to a visiting Kenyan Bishop. These are girls that generally can't do much for any length of time without distraction/disruption, and yet they created this wonderful presentation on their own and presented it to a group of perfect strangers. The girls had less than 2 hours of practice oer 2 days, and were nervous as all heck! When it was time to perform, they nervously set up their drums in the middle of a 25 person circle, and proceeded to play the most inspired and wonderful drum beats you can imagine.

When they finished their 2 songs, everyone present demanded an encore...and were rewarded with one. The looks on the faces of these girls during and especially after they placed was priceless. The sense of accomplishment and pride in what they had done, although minor to most, was priceless to them. In their world of constant failure and low self-esteem, they not only tasted success, but also realized they liked what they tasted.

I admit, my eyes welled up a little. Even though things are not great in the program right now, and the girls will always be a challenge...during that 10 minutes I was reassured. I knew I was doing what I needed to do in this world. Those 10 minutes, and the looks on those girls' faces, are why I do what I do!