Lifting kids up
A non-profit organization, TWEA established its Blue Bird Project in 2019 as a follow-on to its Teen Birds Project, an educational venture that involves at-risk youth in wilderness activities.
At-risk kids are prone to giving up on themselves, often because of dysfunctional family situations and long-term lack of affirmation. Their situations frequently lead them to build invisible walls between themselves and the world.
Believing that the wonders of the outdoors can be a force for good in children’s lives, TWEA uses the mountains as a learning environment. Association chairman Liu Chun-yu says that kids who participate in the Teen Birds Project don’t always fall in love with trekking, but all nonetheless light up when sharing their experiences at the end-of-term get-together.
Liu recalls having a hyperactive child in the Teen Birds Project who took medication to manage the disorder. Unfortunately, the medication made him absent-minded. This, together with his slight physique, caused him to fall behind the rest of the group, which in turn led to outbursts of swearing. Physically exhausted and emotionally volatile, the boy ended up sobbing as he walked. If they’d been on the plains, he might simply have quit walking, but he recognized that as long as he was in the mountains he had no choice but to face reality and keep going, no matter how little he wanted to. Sympathetic to the boy’s frustrations, Liu encouraged him by telling him he could rest if he was tired, and change his clothes if the dampness made them uncomfortable. “I told him: It doesn’t matter how slowly we walk. As long as we keep moving, we’ll get there. And we’ll stick with you no matter how long it takes.”
The Teen Birds Project extends what would normally be a two-day trek for an adult into four to six days for the kids, drawing the trip out by giving the children time alone in which to write letters to their future selves, and by appointing a different child as co-leader each day to involve them in planning each day’s camp and meals. In TWEA’s view, the journey is more important than the destination, and the longer trips give team members more time to talk to each other and process their feelings.
If a team member runs out of steam on the trail, the others will offer encouragement and even volunteer to share the weight of the tired child’s pack. Such compassion and mutual support may not be part of school curricula, but are important skills to have when facing life’s challenges.
The Taiwan Wilderness Education Association’s Teen Birds Project involves young people in wilderness activities, teaching them how to read a map and put up a tent while cultivating their courage and zest for life.