by Tonisha Rohe
It was your average youth night, kids playing, leaders shouting and the sound of laughter echoing.
Everything seemed normal, until I was called into the office; I walked in and waited anxiously. “Show her,” he said, I looked over and saw his wrists covered with deep red cuts. I couldn’t help but think, this is nothing but a sign, to escape a large internal battle.
Instantly, my eyes began to fill with tears; I could feel my heart beating faster and harder and my mind was filled with a tornado of questions. Questions of why “our” kids face so much hurt and despair, how are we as leaders failing them, how are we as a society failing them. In a culture that boasts and acclaims that our youth are our future; somehow we still manage to allow countless kids to slip through the cracks.
It is in these moments that we are brought in to the despair of our youth, where we as leaders see the hurt, the rawness and the reality of people that most others don’t. I carry this with great privilege and responsibility.
As leaders we see the broken homes, we see the consequences of addictions, we see children not living with their parents. I often think to myself, how can I be Jesus in those areas. If only our kids understood the beauty that they possess. A child made of righteousness and perfect innocence, designed to resemble God.
When we fully grasp what it means to bear God’s image, we are struck with the grandeur of possibilities and become aware of our unrealised potential. As a friend, a leader, a Christ-follower, a neighbour and a good person it is important that we remind these kids how significant, unique and special they are.
Tonisha has decided not to continue with UNOH, but will still be fully involved in the neighborhood, running a weekly Youth Programme and attending WOC. In 2016 Tonisha will be flatting with 3 other WOC girls in Randwick Park, while studying Social Science at Unitech.