”Pridelands continued to surprise me right from my interview.
From my first moment at Pridelands I knew this was the right place when young cubs got up and explained a game infront of everyone – I was so taken aback at their quiet confidence. This is what Pridelands does: it demands and celebrates your authentic self.
From then on, I saw genuine passion from the cubs and staff and an environment where everyone is equal (it helps that we really don’t take ourselves seriously).
I worked in Pride In Action as a mentor and after-school care as well as working in the after-school programme. Moses first told me to forget everything I think I know about working with children and neurodivergence and see things for what they truly are. There have been countless times where Moses and Gg would tell me something, but it didn’t click until I experienced it myself with my own eyes and learnt from my own expectations.
It has been an absolute privilege to have seen astonishing transformation in the cubs. Sometimes quickly and sometimes over extended periods of quality time. I have seen the incredible gifts of neurodivergent children, seen nonverbal cubs begin to speak, seen cubs be understood deeply, seen cubs respond to difficult emotions in ways they hadn’t done before, seen cubs begin to help their community and seen cubs do things for themselves that they learnt at Pridelands. I think a large part of what makes this work is Pridelands faith in their cubs.
Pridelands does what it takes to see things through to instil confidence and respect in cubs for them to grow up to be the best possible version of themselves. This includes sharing the honest truth in a way the cub understands and having the hard conversations with the cubs about things that aren’t working and what they need to do to grow. These conversations I’ve had and been a part of are actually met with respect and appreciation. There have been countless times I’ve seen Moses and Gg get through to a cub by having such conversations by using the right analogies at the right time. Pridelands teaches life skills more than what’s taught at school that I know the cubs will take on into their life.
Moses and Gg are incredibly intuitive in the way they are with children – I’m unsure if this is due to the number of years they have under their belt but it feels more like it’s something unseen and it really is magic to watch. The Pridelands group of staff are fierce individuals who are wholeheartedly themselves and lead with integrity. I was blown away by the other mentors with their ideas and how they journey with cubs that lead to breakthroughs.
Pridelands taught me to:
- try again even if you don’t at first succeed
- be honest
- listen and to see things for what they are
- look at things another way
- be challenged is a positive thing
- do one thing at a time and do it well
- begin with the end in mind
Most of all I learnt that being myself is the best thing I can be
Pridelands finds out what makes you you and gets you to run with it. To share what you know and what you value with the cubs. To take them into your space and let down your walls so they can mirror this. I believe in the power of community and nature being an antidote to the parts of our world that are too hard to sit with and I was privileged to share this value of mine with the cubs and I will miss exploring and having interesting conversations with the cubs in this way.
Moses and Gg hold respect and faith in the staff and know that we will succeed. Moses often shared from his grandfather that where we stand, we are our greatest problem and our greatest solution. Working with children I learnt that you have to be self-assured and I was met with this challenge every day, and every day I grew. I often overthink and Moses made a comment to me to not plan things so much, as you see working with kids you have to be adaptable. I found that when I was genuinely myself, I didn’t put expectation on myself and things worked out better in the day then I could imagine.
Gg and Moses always had time for me and my many questions and were like mentors to me. If I had Pridelands when I was a cub, I would definitely be a more confident adult.
When I leave Pridelands I will miss:
- the cubs I have supported and the staff.
- the routines I had with the cubs.
- the hard conversations.
- the fun times and being beaten at games.
- teaching the cubs.
- the surprises.
- and the songs that get stuck in my head.
For now, I am off on an adventure in an intentional community that will develop my self-assuredness – but there will forever be a Pridelands shaped hole in my heart.
Esther
