Hope House is a place where children get support to overcome their trauma and have the chance to spend a good childhood. But with the age of eighteen, their wonderful time here ends, and every girl has to go her own way.
Magdalena and I were interested how their plans for their future would look like, so we started a little project. We wanted the girls to think about their future, and we also wanted them to become creative. That’s why every girl should design a vision board on a paper chart. To get some inspiration we had some questions for them to think about, like: “what are your goals in life?”, “what do you want to achieve?”, “where do you see yourself in 10 years?”. Even if one has no plan for the future, it may help to think about strengths or passions to find out what type of job may be desirable. It can be difficult to find out of what you are good at, which is why we encouraged the girls to ask each other and talk about what they value each other for. Once they had an idea what to tell on their vision board, they should visualize it on their paper chart. As Magdalena and I were looking around, we noticed how they were really into designing, and they seemed to have fun being creative.
The results spoke for themselves: some vision boards were colourful, some girls mainly wrote text, some worked with symbols and signs and some even wrote some inspiring quotes. It was intriguing that most of the girls want to become nurses or doctors, but we will also have one bank manager, a lawyer and a police officer. When I think of myself, I am quite fascinated and also a little bit jealous of the specific plans and dreams the girls have in mind. On the other hand, it is also necessary for them not only to have these dreams but also to really work hard to achieve them. I feel so fortunate to have a family that I can rely on and who would be there for me in times of need. These girls do not have a family which supports them no matter what, like the most of us do.
In the Hope House, a lot of help is given, so that the girls are prepared for their future. I am more than happy that the girls do have big plans. It feels good, to be a part of Hope House, to work with the girls and we hope that we can help at least a little bit to make their dreams come true.
