by Natacha Desir, Child Advocate
One of the programs we do as part of the Child Advocacy Program is called “Girls’ Sharing Time”. Once a month we meet with the teenage girls from our program and lead them through various activities that help them learn and share. The idea was to create a space in which our girls could feel comfortable talking about their experiences and their problems. A place where they would feel loved and understood. A place where they could learn about things like self-esteem, self-confidence, assertiveness and sexual education.
In our last meeting, we focused on emotions. We know that the children we work with are vulnerable, and that what they experience every day is hard, but many are not able to explain their feelings. Taking time to talk about emotions is, in my opinion, very beneficial for the girls because we are able to teach them how to identify those feelings.
To help teach the girls about emotions, and how to identify them in themselves, we used “photo language.” Photo language is a psychological tool that helps to verbalize emotions and talk about difficult subjects. We put photos out on the floor and had each girl select one that reminded her of an emotion she either had felt in the past or was feeling in that moment, and then we had them talk about it. This activity helped the girls talk about what makes them sad, happy, fearful or angry. Every girl was able to participate, and they shared what they felt in different situations. I was proud to see the courage these girls displayed, and to see that after sharing, they felt a sense of freedom.
In our desire to put an end to this system, it is important that we do this kind of psychological work because it really helps. We are fighting for these children, and it is important that we continue to bring them joy and peace of mind.
