Can Cook Will Cook

Working with some young men over in Kent when I was part of Natural Pathways both Hannah and I had the pleasure to experience a young man come into his own.

He was a large boy who presented with low self esteem and lacked confidence within the group, the group on the other hand were loud and very active and we had the impression that this young man may have been the butt of their jokes and indeed we were soon proved to be correct by the groups behaviour around him.

It was during shelter building that Hannah became aware that this young man was not enjoying the task at hand, he appeared to be disconnected from the group. Then Hannah discovered that he liked to cook, so she encouraged him to do the cooking for the whole group over an open camp fire, to which he agreed, while the rest of the group got on with their shelters.

Then it came time to eat, the boys were worn out by the amount of work they had been putting into their shelters and quite simply they were ready for a break and a bite to eat. They all sat around the fire while the young man served them a hot lunch, and without much encouragement they all commented on how great the food tasted.

The young man smiled and they talked between each other, some asking how he managed to do the cooking and so on. In response to our questions they soon began to realise that everyone had something to offer the group, if one person could not do something then the group would find what they were good at and use that particular skill for the good and benefit of all. They were also able to recognise their own limitations and play to their strengths.

At the end of the day the group left as a group as opposed to arriving as some were part of and others were not part of the group.

All in all a great day was had, the same cannot be said for the mini bus driver, and that is another story in it's own right which I may share with you in person one day.