SOAPkidz was contacted by the BCC Youth Church to assist with their workshop to empower the youth. Many of them had suicidal thoughts and felt that they had nothing much to live for.

The day consisted of discussing some of the pressing concerns by the church:

• Young Adults having suicidal tendencies
• Anger and lack of motivation
• Realisation of self-worth after being in a gang, through a guided visualisation process.

Some of the youths come from poor backgrounds and some from abused homes, others lack confidence or still held anger towards the people that infected or caused them pain in their past. For some, the pain went to the extent that they were suppressing and hiding their emotions and thoughts in fear that people would judge and ridicule them.

SOAPkidz was thrilled to be there to help the children acknowledge the past by forgiving before healing.

After the workshop, the youths were able to express themselves . They looked at peace and joyfully sang a beautiful melody, thanking the SOAPkidz for assisting in empowering themselves.

We were invited on the spur of the moment by the BCC Youth Church, to attend a workshop they were hosting. SOAPkidz was asked to assist with empowering the troubled youth in the area. Pregnancy, unemployment and drug abuse were just some of the issues they have to deal with.

On our arrival, it was overwhelming to see how suspicious the children looked at us, as if we were just like all the others who came before and promised them heaven and earth, but then left them high and dry.

During our guided visualisation process, it was impressive to see the way these youths recognised their negative emotions and realised how they had been holding onto them for dear life.

I took the youths through a mini visualisation process and they were absolutely engrossed at all times. Many of them attained a closer acceptance of their situations, knowing that while they cannot change their situations, they can make positive choices and lead their lives that way.

After lunch we had a group of happy, confident youths, singing their hearts out. They had gained back their self-worth and a positive outlook to their futures. It was an absolute joy to see this transformation in just one day.

The lesson I learnt during this, is to go with the flow. There are some instances where the usual rules do not apply at all and you need to just be open to the possibilities.