Children From Hell

SOoooo after two weeks of orientation and finally finding out what work placements i was doing, i was ready to say bonjour to le monde réel. So Mondays and tuesdays I am supposed to help run a food co-op at the Fersands and Fountain commmunity center, and Thursdays and Fridays I join in with the Workers Education Association workshops. Only problem was, the lady who ran the food co-op died over the weekend. i know, sad right? So seeing as this week is her funeral, we were informed that we would not start on the food co-op till next week. but would we help instead with the children's holiday club instead? The children's holiday club is part of the community project and it provides the local children, aged 5-11, with a variety of activities which run from ten in the morning till about 4 pm. There is one paid youth worker, Dave, (think the awesome manta ray teacher from finding nemo , he actually yells "alllll above the skylaaaark" every time we get on a bus or a playground ride, awesome) and then there are a handful of volunteers, young hopefuls aquiring work experience in the aim of becoming social workers/teachers, and then there was me, and Nashir. SO, Jenny and Julius , our PSs, drop us off at the community center, Jenny saying "OH you'll have it easy today. its the kid's club!you're going to a movie" YAAAY!! i love kids movies, is it going to be Up? i will cry with happiness if we are going to see Up!! also i LOVE kids which is such a bonus.Jenny: "not sure, you'll find out when you get there". Arrive at the center. Jenny "this is dave, he will be running the workshop." Dave: "kids club eh? so i see they've thrown you in at the deep end!" wot? "Yeah we had 32 kids last week, each one of them got chucked out of the cinema". Jenny : "byeee!." ENsue two whole days of being physically as well as emotionaly abused by people who are half my height and cute as buttons. The blonde twins, they looked like angels, matching clothes, matching hair. they screamed throughout the WHOLE of Aliens in the Attic (which wasn't actually all that bad.) WHilst waiting for the bus, the children, despite being asked kindly and repeatedly not to climb over the cinema seats, cascaded down every single row, like some kind of sick water feature. A few of them even made the point of hiding in the ticket booth, refusing to come out, despite the insistence of me and half the cinemas staff, and drinking the staff's pepsi. THEN, we got thrown out of the botanical gardens. But, not before they had scooped out all the coppers from the bottom of the wishing pond, leaving a wake of terrorised goldfish, and then running off to the corner shop to buy what ever they could find that was made entirely of MSG and sugar. Then the park. But recalling even that with leave me with a severe brain hemorrhage. But i will tell you this much, there was some seriouse verbal and physical abuse.
Anyway. So what can be said? These kids are just a product of their destructive living environment. Fersands is an incredibly poor and deprived area. It's not their fault that they parrot every obscenity they witness in their neibourhood or household. They're just kids!
AT the end of the day, Dave confronted one of the mothers and explained that her son could not come to the following days activities as he had been swearing so badly. and what did she do? she laughed and shrugged.
They're not all bad, there was one girl who i positively hit it off with. But there are some that just seem beyond reach. The community center is important though. because it provides the kids with positive role models that they might be lacking at home. like Dave, a never ending source of cheerfullness and positivity. People that demonstrate that there is a life outside that of the drugs and gangs that they will eventually fall into. There are SOOO many good community projects here, and having been here for only a week, i have a feeling that i have only seen the tip of the ice berg. For example. On the second day, the activity that was run for the kids was by one that was called Blanc Canvas (i think thats the name...) an art based social project. Basically, the center that Fersands and Fountain is Based in is brand spanking new building, giving a home to many local social representatives. But, before, the project had been based in nearby portacabbins (outside the local school) for the past 24 years. Blanc Canvas's idea was to let the children go crazy and decorate the whole thing inside and out before it got torn down (i think its getting torn down tomorow.) Using a hell load of paints and marker pens, the kids were given an ideal opportunity to discover their creative side.
Thing was that that afternoon's activities had to be cancelled. as well as the following day's promised trip up to a mannor house. and that was all because they just didnt have enough volunteers. so the kids got sent home early. dissapointed. volunteers! these kids shouldnt have to relly on volunteers for their well being! they should have proper help. these kids even deserve psychological support ! but the money just isnt there.

oh well. next week they'll start school again and i'll do the food co-op. and i'll never have to see the little devils again. but what will become of them?
I'm afraid to say that le monde réel is just as terrifying and confusing as i expected it would be.