By Louise | Managing Director
Good morning, Avuxeni!
I hope you are well, we are all doing fine here in not so sunny Limpopo. The rainy season started 3months late and we have had weeks of no sun and plenty of rain. So much so that items of clothing are starting to smell miffy and mould/mildew is appearing on leather goods, apart from that we are doing well.
Today I wanted to share a story from our one of our parents who attended Journey of Life training with feedback from her son Katlego who is one of our scouts. The synergy is wonderful and the impact is really bringing families together with healing.
In fact, at one training, we had great granny, granny, mother and daughter all in the same training. After the training great granny stood up and in front of all the participants apologized for the harm she had caused her family in the way she harshly treated her daughter. Then granny stood and apologized to her daughter, then the mother stood and apologized to her daughter! Four generations had abuse perpetrated down the family line as normal. On this day tears of repentance were flowing and real healing was experienced. Huge changes happened within the family.
Anyway I got distracted, here is Patience’s story, I hope you enjoy the story below.
Blessings
Louise
My name is Patience, and I am married to a handsome man from Shiluvana. We have four children: two boys and two girls. My firstborn was born in 1998, my second child in 2005, my third in 2011, and my youngest in 2018. My firstborn has completed matriculation and is currently trying to further his studies.
I live with my husband and three of our children (one boy and two girls). All of our children participated in the Scouts program, from the oldest to the youngest. Before going to scouts the children would not listen to me, they would go out late at night, they would play away from the house, even when I spoke to them, they would ignore me. They wouldn’t do their chores or help in the house in any way.
Raising the children in Scouts was very easy, my children were very disciplined and easy to parent, they are not difficult children. The children have a focus in life, my youngest girl wants to study, get a good job, she doesn’t want to have a child or be dependent on her parents, she is focused and determined. My eldest son was moulded by scouts, he now has a job in Letsitele, he is independent and working hard for his future. He is not distracted by alcohol or anything else negative.
Katlego also as 17yrs does not want to even try to smoking or drinking because being in scouts is helping him focus on his future that he wants for himself. Drinking and smoking would interfere in his future plans. I am very happy with the Scouts Program.
I was invited to the JOL training because my children are involved in Scouts, and this training has been very helpful for me. I used to be a strict parent who didn’t believe in talking to or listening to children, thinking they would take advantage of it. However, I have changed significantly since attending the training. I can now laugh with my children and communicate with them, which has improved our relationship.
My youngest child is a girl who craves attention. In the past, I wouldn't give her much attention and often sent her to her sister. Now I realize that she wanted to spend time with her mother. Now I let my children be a part of decision making in the household, before the training I didn’t, they are really taking on more responsibilities in the home without being asked and are participating in running the home, sharing their problems with me and listening at a new level.
Voice of the chid
My name is Katlego, I am 17 years old. I joined the scout’s program when I was 13 years old. Initially I joined the scout’s program because most of my friends were in scouts and I wanted find out what they were doing that was keeping them going every Friday. I felt a sense of belonging and had friends who seemed like family to me. I live with my parents and 2 siblings hence I encouraged my siblings to join the scout’s program also.
My mother had the opportunity to be part of the parents who attended the Journey of life training and after the first day of training she was a different person towards me, when I got back home from school, she welcomed me with a smile that I had never seen from her. I felt so confused but also happy to see that smile from her, that made my day. She proceeded to ask me how my day was and again she had never done that before. I felt like I had a new mother whom I really liked.
Before whenever I did something to upset her, she would shout at me, and I would just lock myself in my room and was not able to apologise because I was hurt from how she was talking to me. My relationship with my mother has improved, now when I’ve done something to upset her, she sits me down and we talk about it. I can apologize and no longer go to my bedroom. I am always happy when I go home from school because I know I am going to be welcomed with her beautiful smile.
I am now allowed to go shopping to buy my own clothes, which I couldn’t before. My mum is giving me more freedom in my choices, but I am not sure how long it will last. I am still not completely confident in the changes I see, I love my mum but she was very strict as a parent, it will take some time for me to trust the changes but she is much easier to talk to.
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