Youth Workin' It

Consultancy and Resources for Youth Workers and Organizations Worldwide

Self Esteem – Youth Retreat Themes

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Self Esteem - Youth Retreat ThemesAs we mentioned the other week, youth retreat themes can be one of the hardest parts of planning a youth retreat. As it’s a topic you’ll be covering for a whole weekend (or possibly longer), it needs to be something that speaks into the lives of your young people.

A self esteem youth retreat theme is therefore a great topic to cover, as no matter what group of youth you’re working with, it’s likely that self-esteem will be an issue for most – if not all – of them. Below, we’ve set out a number of activities that you could use for a self esteem youth retreat theme.

Self Esteem Video

As you have a lot more time with young people on a youth retreat, there’s usually more of an opportunity to watch a movie than there would be during a usual youth work session. A great movie with the theme of self esteem is Easy A. This features Emma Stone as Olive – a high school student who uses the school’s rumor mill to improve how people view her and to make her stand out more.

Olive ends up building an ever larger web of lies in her attempt at improving her identity and self esteem. Easy A looks at the natural and logical consequences of her actions and the realization that what other people think of her maybe isn’t quite so important.

n.b. Easy A has some content that you may deem to be inappropriate for your youth group, so watch the movie first to make sure you’re happy to use it.

Self Esteem Debate

Split the young people on the youth retreat into two groups. Have them debate an issue relating to self esteem – possibly using some of the issues from Easy A as a starting point, such as using sex or lying as a way to boost your self esteem/change how people look at you.

Self Esteem On A Christian Youth Retreat

If your youth retreat is being run through a church, looking at the story of Samuel could be a great way of looking at self esteem. From 1 Samuel 16:7 – But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Self Esteem Quotes

This activity could be done in a couple of ways:

  1. Display a self esteem quote on a screen. Give your youth a couple of minutes to consider the quote, then ask them for their thoughts on it. Do they agree with the self esteem quote – if so, why? If not, why not?
  2. Spread out the youth around the room and give each of them their own self esteem quote on a piece of paper, along with a blank piece of paper and a pen. Similar to the first option, have them consider whether or not they agree with the quote, then write down why they feel that way. If they don’t agree with the quote, how would they rephrase it? If they do agree with it, is there anything they would add to the quote? Have each young person present their thoughts to the rest of the group – although this could be nerve-wracking for some of the youth, it’s a good opportunity to work on their public speaking and in turn improve their own self esteem

Spirit Wire has many self esteem quotes – here are a few that might be more appropriate to use with youth, either due to the quote itself or because they might admire the person who said it:

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid – Albert Einstein

I think everybody’s weird. We should all celebrate our individuality and not be embarrassed or ashamed of it – Johnny Depp

If you’re wearing a disguise for too long, it will be difficult for the mirror to recognize you. At the end of the day I hope you become the person they didn’t expect you to be. Be proud to wear you – Dodinsky

Having a low opinion of yourself is not “modesty”. It’s self-destruction. Holding your uniqueness in high regard is not “egotism”. It’s a necessary precondition to happiness and success – Bobbe Sommer

I was once afraid of people saying, “Who does she think she is?” Now I have the courage to stand and say, “This is who I am.” – Oprah Winfrey

Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are – Kurt Cobain

I have missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot… and missed. And I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed – Michael Jordan

It is not our abilities that show what we truly are…it is our choices – Dumbledore

Self Esteem – Exercise

Exercise is actually a great way of boosting self esteem in young people for a couple of reasons:

  1. It boosts endorphins, so this can improve self esteem and general happiness levels
  2. It gives youth a sense of achievement

The options for games/exercise for your self esteem youth retreat will vary – it’ll often be based on what activities are available at your retreat center or close by. Options could include:

  • Going on a hike – make it harder (and therefore producing a bigger sense of achievement) by putting youth in charge of following a map/directions
  • Rock/wall climbing
  • High ropes courses

Ensure that the activities are challenging, but achievable for all your youth. If one or more of your youth have a paralyzing fear of heights, a high ropes course of rock climbing might prove to be counter-productive.

Self Esteem For Girls

If your youth retreat will only have girls on it, check out these self esteem activities for girls.

Other Self Esteem Activities

Check out our previous self esteem youth work session plan for a couple of further ideas: Fan Mail and the Multiple Intelligences Test.

 

** If you’re planning a youth retreat, our book takes you through the planning process step-by-step – discover more about How To Plan A Youth Retreat **

 

Question: How have you covered the topic of self esteem with your youth group? We’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below.

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Remembering The Rwandan Genocide

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Youth worker training in Rwanda
Shae giving youth worker training at Centre Marembo

70% of Rwandans are under the age of 30.

You read that correctly.

7 out of every 10 people in Rwanda is a young person.

Most are orphans.

I have had a place in my heart for Rwanda, her people, her land and her endangered Mountain Gorillas since I was 8 years old. That is when I first heard about Dian Fossey and her work with the ‘Gorillas in the Mist.’ In 2008 I got the opportunity to go to Rwanda – the fulfillment of a 20 year dream.

I’ve read the books and seen the movies about the genocide. If you ask about it, I can talk all day on the subject. I’ve attended talks, coordinated and emceed genocide commemoration events and helped sell products to support youth in Rwanda.

But the genocide didn’t become reality until I was there.

On the soil.

Seeing the faces.

Reliving the events through their eyes.

Seeing the daily reminders that Rwandans live with.

It wasn’t until I met Jean-Pierre (a genocide survivor), saw a monthly community meeting and the distinctive pink prison uniform of the convicted genocide perpetrator that the true nature of what happened was driven home. It also made me realize how vitally important it is for young people to learn lessons of forgiveness, reconciliation and global citizenry to ensure that ‘Never Again’ becomes truth.

Stephen and I volunteered with the Rwandan youth work charity, rYico, for 3 years while we lived in the UK. We had the pleasure of travelling to Rwanda in 2008 to deliver youth worker training in Kigali. We delivered the training to eight youth and social workers from across the capital. The training was held at Centre Marembo, a vocational and youth center run by rYico. Centre Marembo provides education, nutrition and vocational training for youth on streets of Kigali.

A few things you may not know about Rwanda

Did you know that to be a recognized youth center in Rwanda you have to house at least 30 homeless youth? At Umugongo House, rYico houses 30 boys. Boys are relatively easier to help than girls. Girls are often nearly invisible, forced into service in a house or as part of sexual exploitation. Fortunately, rYico has recently been awarded a grant to start a girls project.

Did you know that a monthly community service time is mandatory for all Rwandan citizens? One Saturday a month, the entire country works on projects to improve the local community. They build schools, clean the streets and much more. It is part of the wider reconciliation efforts to promote unity and community in Rwanda.

Did you know that every year, there is an International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Rwandan genocide? Rwandans commemorate by lighting candles and sharing their stories of loss and survival.

Youth work Rwanda
The view at Paradise Hotel in Rwanda

Did you know that Rwanda has a plan called Vision 2020 to be free of foreign aid by the year 2020? Rwanda is moving forward. It is remembering the past and pressing on towards a bright future. It is a beautiful country, rich in culture both musically and through dance. The landscape can take your breath away as you look out over the ‘Land of a Thousand Hills.’

Resources to learn more about Rwanda

If you would like to know more about the genocide and survivor stories you can visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial website. Please be aware there are graphic images.

We also had the privilege to visit a church, which is working to build a hospital in Kigali. You can learn more at onehundreddays.org.

Finally, an incredible article about Senator Dallaire (former Commander of the UN Peacekeepers during the genocide) and the Aegis Trust, which is working to end genocide throughout the world.

Interested in visiting Rwanda? Everyone should – it’s amazing!

Rwandan youth work
Just a few of the Thousand Hills
Youth work Rwanda
We loved their stacking skills!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Child Trafficking Fundraiser – Youth Work Session Plan Idea

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Love146 Tread On Trafficking youth work session plan idea
Image courtesy of Love146

It’s a youth work session plan idea, no wait, it’s a fundraiser… do we post it on a Thursday or Monday?! Ah, the dilemmas of Youth Workin’ It’s team of bloggers.

Honestly, it is both and could have been posted under either category, but we’re going to offer a few ways to turn this fundraiser into one or more great youth work session plan ideas.

Faithful readers may remember our Spotlight on trafficked youth for Valentine’s Day. We highlighted a non-profit organization called Love146 which focuses on trying to end human slavery and child trafficking.

They’re now undertaking their annual fundraiser ‘Tread on Trafficking.’ From May 1 – June 30, they’re encouraging everyone to do a sponsored event in order to raise money to help end child trafficking. It can be running, walking, swimming… anything – last year’s ‘Awesome Award’ winner was on his paddle board for 24 hours!

If your youth project or group would like to fundraise for Tread2012, you can find out all the information you need here. Now here are a few session plan ideas to take this from a fundraiser to one or more youth work sessions. There are three weeks until the start of Tread2012.

Week 1 – Help youth empathize with trafficked children by learning more about it through statistics and personal stories

Week 2 – Identify which fundraising activity your youth are going to do and answer some questions

  • How many of the youth are going to participate in the activity? Remember that all of your youth might not be able to participate in physical activities. You can still include them by finding other ways for them to get sponsorship or have them help with contacting sponsors, finding resources about trafficking, planning and/or giving talks to others about your activities and helping produce any online or print information about the activities the group is doing (press releases, blogs, social media posts, etc.)
  • What activity is going to be undertaken?
  • Is it going to be one large group activity with everyone working as a group at your center or individual activities that can be done at home?
  • Possible large group activities include: one or more group hikes for high mileage, sponsored bike ride, sit up/push up challenges or head to the local pool for laps with different group members ‘tagging in’ when swimmers tire.
  • Possible individual activities include: Surfing for a certain number of hours, skateboarding for a certain distance, walking a certain number of steps or miles or climbing a certain number of stairs.
  • How will you get sponsorship? Who can be contacted and who is off limits? When is the money due? Who will keep track of the finances?
  • Craft a sponsorship letter if appropriate.

Week 3 – Help youth remember the empathy they developed in week one by showing a film – use discretion and preview the film first

May 1 – June 30 Work together during sessions on the group fundraising goal or continue to learn about child trafficking, find ways to help raise awareness and check-in on individual fundraising goals and activities.

We know that child trafficking and human slavery may not be what your youth group is passionate about. If your youth already have an organization or cause they already support, use this as a basic guide for ways your youth can make a difference in that area or for that organization.

If your youth do participate in Tread2012, we’d love to hear how it goes!

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Restoration And Forgiveness – Youth Work Session Plan Idea

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Restoration And Forgiveness Youth Work Session Plan Idea
Image courtesy of butupa, Flickr

In the past, we’ve provided youth work session plan ideas to help young people understand their anger and manage their aggression. One idea was to use the vicious circle as a method for exploring the cycle that anger can lead to.

Unforgiveness and vengeance, which can accompany anger, are two other choices that can be cyclical. They can eat away at someone and cause a chain reaction of events that lead to more heart ache and pain. When covering anger, it’s therefore a good opportunity to talk about hatred, bitterness, vengeance and unforgiveness, as these can be root causes of ongoing angry feelings and aggressive behavior.

Take some time to show this clip from the film The Interpreter. It didn’t come out yesterday, so there’s a good chance your youth won’t have seen it. After you watch the clip, take some time to answer the questions below in small groups. This activity can be stand alone, as part of a wider session about anger or aggression or can be a great introduction to a longer talk or sermon on the subject.

 

Discussion Questions:

  1. What does forgiveness mean to you?
  2. Is it important? Why or why not?
  3. What do you think about the method described in the clip for finding freedom from anger or hatred?
  4. Do you think it works as a principle for society? Should those that do wrong go unpunished? What ideas/solutions can you think of?
  5. Is there anyone you need to forgive? Do you want to forgive them and restore that relationship? Why or why not?
  6. What do you think of the quote below, in light of our discussion and the video clip? What does it mean? Do you think it’s true? Why or why not?

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” – Lewis B. Smedes

If you’ve found this idea helpful, you might also like our other youth work session plan ideas.

Question: How would you use this session plan idea with your youth? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Youth Retreat Themes – Hunger

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Youth Retreat Themes - HungerComing up with youth retreat themes can be one of the hardest parts of planning a youth retreat. Over the coming months, we’ll be giving some youth retreat theme ideas for you to use.

On Thursdays, we give free youth work session plan ideas. As the name suggests though, these ideas are based on shorter youth work sessions, so aren’t always suitable as themes for youth retreats that take place over a weekend or longer.

These youth retreat themes will therefore give you a broad outline for your retreat, enabling you to expand on the material to tailor it for your own youth group.

 

Youth Retreat Themes – Hunger

Following the recent release of The Hunger Games, this felt like an apt choice as a youth retreat theme. Although not based on the book, this theme will help young people explore the issue of hunger facing many other youth around the world.

This youth retreat theme has been created using a number of materials from The Turning Point Trust, a charity working with children and families in the Kibera slums in Kenya. The Turning Point Trust was set up by Jon & Jo Parsons – Jon was one of my youth workers when I was a teen and he and Jo are doing incredible work in Kibera.

Meals

This will be one of the biggest challenges, as this youth retreat theme involves taking up the Kibera Diet Challenge. This restricts the types of food, methods of cooking, etc – check out the rules of the challenge here.

As youth retreats tend to be held further away, you might need to forgo the 4th rule as you’ll need to buy the food in advance. However, see the activities below for an idea on how you can still make the young people work for their food.

There is also a Kibera Diet Challenge recipe book to give you some ideas of meals that can be made, along with the ingredients needed.

Meetings/Discussions

Turning Point have also provided a free reflections worksheet for those taking the Kibera Diet Challenge. This provides some good discussion points to have with your youth to help them consider further the issues facing those dealing with hunger on a daily basis.

The reflections worksheet includes some suggested reading from the Bible, but if you’re not running a Christian youth retreat then this section can be left if you wish.

The worksheet is also based on people taking the challenge over the course of five days. As most youth retreats occur over the course of a weekend, these reflections could be condensed accordingly – perhaps day 1 on Friday, days 2 & 3 on Saturday and days 4 & 5 on Sunday.

Activities

As mentioned in the meals section above, walking to a store might not be a viable option on your youth retreat, especially because most youth retreat centers tend to be in the middle of nowhere. Here are some activities though to help your youth experience this part of the challenge.

  1. Organize a quite literal scavenger hunt – Hide each day’s food all over the youth retreat center complex or preferably over an even wider area, if there are woods or hiking trails nearby. Provide a map or instructions for the youth on where to find the food.
  2. Fetching water – Do some research into churches, businesses or community organizations within a 2-5 mile radius of the youth retreat center. Contact them in advance to ask if they’d be willing to have you all walk there and fill up large water containers, acting as a faux-well. Your youth can then work as a team to help each other carry the heavy water containers back to the retreat center.
  3. Fire making – As electric appliances can’t be used, consider cooking meals over a fire or by using some basic outdoor camping cookers. If building a fire, gathering firewood can be used as an activity each day and would be a great opportunity for relationship building. Be sure to conduct risk assessments due to the safety aspect of this though (see our book for more details on how to conduct a risk assessment for youth retreats).
 After the youth retreat

Having experienced a little of what it would be like to eat meals similar to someone in a Kenyan slum, your youth may be impacted by this and want to make a difference.

One way of doing this would be to support the Turning Point Trust. You can do this in a number of ways:

  1. Donating money
  2. Fundraising – also see our posts giving youth group fundraising ideas
  3. Prayer
  4. Internships – if your youth are old enough, they may wish to look into actually going to Kenya to support Turning Point directly

Question: What other activities would you do to address the global issue of hunger? Please let us know in the comments below.

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