Making My Mark

I might be interested in school counseling at some point in the states. I am enjoying working with the kids so far. Perhaps I will work at a school in a low income district. I am feeling inspired by some of the positive ways I have been able to impact the lives of several of the kids in the past days.

Today a 15-year-old boy told me he lives on his own. His mom is dead and his 75-year-old father is living on a ventilator in the hospital. He has an older brother and sister in their 20s. His brother is his main support but the school discourages his involvement because he is a Rastafarian and a drug dealer. The boy will be starting in my Why Try Program next term. Cases like his exist all over St. Lucia and St. Lucia has no way of helping these kids. There is 1 boys home but it’s exclusively for boys who have committed criminal acts. So, does my boy have to commit a crime in order to get a meal? Unfortunately I hear that this is exactly what is happening with many young, unsupported boys. There isn’t a viable foster care program in St. Lucia and there is no homeless shelter for these kids. It’s a tragedy, for true! Today I was able to get this boy free breakfast and lunch for the rest of the term on the schools expense. His story is a sad one, and my heart breaks even more when I see the school staff and teachers relating to him only as a ‘troublesome child.’ It is clear that this culture has just barely begun the exploration of child development and human psychology.

As the days go by my place and purpose here become more concrete. Clearly, one contribution I have to offer is to model effective communication with youth and especially at-risk youth, and to help mobilize some of the groups and create systematic procedures that help to maintain the sustainability of the groups. Hopefully, I can help the counselor to get some of the at-risk youth involved in more groups, clubs and community activities.