Well, the staff has arrived. Boys come tomorrow morning. One more sleep until the best week of summer. But before camp starts, we volunteers need to do something. We need to switch our mindsets.
mindset
ˈmīn(d)set/
noun
- the established set of attitudes held by someone.
We may not think that we have previously formed opinions on these kids, but we have. We feel confident in our kid-handling abilities, but what we don’t realize is this: growing up the way most of us have already makes us vastly different from the boys we’re about to meet.
I met a lot of great people today, from nervous first-time coaches to people I’ve heard have volunteered here for years. We each have unique personalities and attributes to contribute, but our underlying lives are, on a very basic level, the same. We grew up in homes where there was always enough food. We’ve never been beaten until we’re bleeding or locked in a closet for hours. We gotten motivation from parents, siblings, and friends, even if it’s just a simple Good morning or Nice job.
These kids don’t have that.
Growing up under-resourced means growing up a survivor. It means having a completely different view of the world than you or I or any other middle-class American. It means becoming an adult on the inside way faster than their age shows.
So what do you do with children like this? How do you minister to someone you don’t even understand?
Really, the answer is simple: hope.
Give them hope by encouraging them. Give them hope by showing there are people that care about them. Give them hope by getting on their level, doing your best to understand. Don’t say you know what they’re going through. Don’t say be quiet or sit still or chew with your mouth closed. These kids may be very different than people we come in contact with on a daily basis, but they’re still just kids. They aren’t just another sob story; they’re real. They have quirky personalities and distinct characteristics and favorite foods just like we do. To comprehend their daily lives, we need to grasp their very different worldview, but to help them? Change their lives forever? We just need to give them hope.
Growing up a survivor means not having time to think about the future. Next week isn’t given, and goal setting is a foreign concept for these boys. But what if they had a place where they were safe, where they had time to think about what they want to do? When we switch our mindsets, we can help them switch theirs. Give these kids some hope, and they can do so much more than what is normally expected of them. They’re not stupid or slow or bad; they’re just lost, alone, and needy. Show them someone cares, and watch their world explode.
