Beyond the classrooms at
Mercy Centre

Canadian volunteer, Ashley and her new-found friends concentrate on the grammar lesson on the board.

Story and pictures by MAUREEN PAETKAU and SUNEE CANYOOK

It’s pit term (school break) now for the older kids who live at Mercy Centre and attend government schools. They’re not in class, but some are playing games of luck and strategy – everything from bingo to three dimensional tic-tac-toe – and engaging in body language conversations with a group of five young volunteers from a programme called Street Kids International. They are spending their spring break from Canadian schools volunteering with the kids. Others of the Canadian group are working with an older group of girls on their English in another room.

"At the end of the day, at 7:30, when we’re ready to go back to the house, they’re still asking us for more," laughs Christian. "They try to pull us to go and do something with them." Echoing the feelings of the other volunteers, he says, "I’m going to really miss them when we have to leave."

PERFORMANCE ANYONE?

Stephen Groh, circus entertainer, trains bodies and minds, giving youngsters confidence; then he puts them on stage.

A locally-based volunteer, Stephen Groh, is an experienced circus performer who runs a programme for street kids and the boys and girls living at Mercy House.

"I train them in circus arts – gymnastics, tumbling, unicycling, acrobatics, clowning. We do shows around the city."

In fact they did a show recently for Jackie Chan who took off his jacket and did a few back flips with them. Then he helped them with a three-tier pyramid. One of the kids from the group even had a bit part in the movie being shot here.

Stephen explains the purpose of his programme: "Circus is a tool, not a goal. I do what I do to give the kids a positive self-image, to engage the mind and body in the learning process. They assess their own achievement, they police themselves and they are part of a group, which is also important. And they have a lot of fun and that’s really a celebration of life."

Stephen also chooses kids who do well in his programme, and in school, and at Mercy Centre and forms teams. He then enters them in adventure races in mountain biking, running, swimming, jungle-trekking, sometimes competing against professionals. And they do well.

"Isn’t that cool?" chimes in Father Joe. "Our kids have been in public. They’ve got a lot of social skills."

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Beyond the classrooms at Mercy Centre

Beyond the classrooms at
Mercy Centre