When you start a week discussing youth issues at a local governmental level and then actually have some twenty plus youth coming to your space to provide, as well as benefit, from your services, that’s not a bad week at all!
On Saturday night, the 10th December, two residential care officers from Edinburgh City Council brought five ‘unaccompanied minors’ to our Youth Chillout Session. They were helping to settle them, so they came to see what facilities we had to offer. All five had been through the Calais Jungle before being finally given resettlement leave by the UK Home Office. “They have all been through a lot!” the officers remarked a number of times. They were in the process of ‘assessing’ before being allocated foster families to help their integration in Scotland.
It is a new case for Edinburgh’s City Council and they are certainly learning as they go along. Language and cultural barriers were key obstacles. “We spend most of the day with them using sign language” said Karen. It was therefore to the relief of both the officers and kids that they walked into a place mingling with youths who spoke their languages and came from their countries of origin. One of the children the officers were really worried about started to come out of his bubble. “He eats just chips” Karen’s motherly tone asserted. The sight of her face lighting up as the young man tucked into pizza with the others was simply breathtaking! The children were however well mannered the officers outlined.
Karen and Niko however had years of experience working with youth. We were interested in the broader picture and wider challenges facing Scottish society, and especially Edinburgh. We were taken aback hearing how kids “thrived” and “blossomed” in Care instead of their homes because at least they were secured a safe space and three meals a day! Deprivation in households was a major problem affecting the welfare of children. A city where children cannot attain their full potential because of poverty should concern us all because they are the future generation.
The exchange made us ask: how could we contribute our quota to solving these social problems whether it be a result of the migration crisis or problems entrenched within Scottish society? What could we offer to help the city especially when it appears that the council is scaling back on some of these projects? The officers highlighted fostering and mentoring as two key areas which the Muslim community can help with. We can certainly help with things like language, diversity and cultural sensitivity insights for both council and would-be foster families to aid the long-term relationships being forged. Whatever the case, we want to be a partner in creating safer more cohesive communities because a city where all children can reach their full potentials is a gift to the whole world not just to Edinburgh.
Caritas Award Students from St. Augustine’s School
This afternoon (11 December 2016), our Imam and Aid worker held a meeting with five zestful young people from St. Augustine’s High School. The Head of the school’s RE department and the Caritas co-ordinator got in touch with us when one of the pupils asked about the possibility of getting involved in Mosque activities as part of their Caritas Award. “The Pope Benedict XVI Caritas Award encourages and promotes the ongoing faith journey of young people. It recognises that some are already active and committed within their homes, schools, and Faith communities and it invites others to respond to God’s call of love. It supports and celebrates the faith witness which young people give within their communities. The Award had 3 elements: Theological reflection, 20 hours of loving service within the pupil’s Faith Community and 20 hours of loving service within St Augustine’s.
So today, our Aid worker and Imam met with the enthusiastic students. We outlined from the start that we wanted this to be a mutually fulfilling venture: we wanted to learn from them as much as we hoped they would gain insights from their involvement. We discussed their interests and passions, trying to match them with the various areas of work the mosque conducts: Foodbank, Youth Chillout, Health & Wellbeing focus group, Mother & Toddler group, Gardening, New to Islam Support Circle, The Mosque School – Arabic madrasah for kids 5-12yrs, Mosque Tours/visits, Social Media engagement, Foundation Islam Course, Student of Knowledge Course, Adult Arabic Course – Level 1A and the various collections/activities which take place after the Friday congregational prayers. We told them that we didn’t just want to be ticking boxes here, rather “loving service” has such depth to it that it had to be linked to doing something one was passionate about and deeply cared for. The youth are our future, and we want to listen to them so that together we can walk along the journeys they take to fulfill their talents and ambitions.