A few minutes of your time can bring about change to last a lifetime

A few minutes of your time can bring about change to last a lifetime

The Unlimited Titans cricket team recently visited Bramley Child & Youth Care Centre in Groenkloof to hand over a cheque for money they have raised with their annual charity event.  This was awesome and the money is appreciated.  But, the time the players spent with the children, playing cricket and sharing ice creams, was an almost priceless contribution by the men in blue.

Every person, but especially children, needs a hero.  What is a hero?  According to Wikipedia it is “a person, typically a man, who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities”.

Role models in children’s lives greatly affect their futures, putting a large amount of pressure on those role models to set a good example. The Titans spending time with the children on a sunny Monday afternoon caused excitement and left a lingering impression on the children.  To laugh and play with national sporting heroes in the garden of the Bramley CYCC was a very positive experience. Without even noticing it, these players contributed to the well-being of the children by providing attention, fun and lots of laughter.

The children at Bramley CYCC live in combined family structures where about 15 children live in one house. Providing individual attention can become a challenge and also the relationship between the care givers and children can’t be the same as a parent child relationship in a biological family. In the standard household the parents have specific roles and the father would normally take the position as role model.  

However, when a child lacks a positive role model for his future, that child will seek a “fatherly” figure to mentor him, whether they have the ability to mentor or not. Children often compare their idea of a father or fatherly figures to heroes, most notably Superman. They think of them as being invincible and rock solid in life.

The children at the CYCC clearly understands that no-one is perfect. Still they be given high goals in life to shoot for, like trying to be Superman, so that they land high in the moral scale of Humanity. If children don’t get high moral standards right from the beginning, it is very hard for them to attain a high level of morality later in life.

 

Heroes direct children in the right direction, help the people around them, and leave lasting impressions on the past, present, and future. Heroes stood up for what is right when others sat down, did ten times more than what was asked of them, questioned authority when authority was wrong, and fought for the rights of all people. The world of today has been shaped by the heroes of the past, as the future will be shaped be the heroes of today.

 

Heroes will be forever needed and respected in society, and one of the best quotes summarizing heroes is by C.S. Lewis, who once said, “each hero is human, a rainbow of thoughts and emotions; subject to quirks, failures, triumphs and, yes, even flaws.” Each person should look up to these flawed heroic “rainbows,” and thank them for everything heroes have done in their lives, and how they’ve made the world a better place.

At Bramley CYCC a lot of work is done to rebuild the image children have of the world around them and we are constantly embarking on programmes to build their self-esteem and the way they perceive the world.  Interaction with positive people who are achievers and who are comfortable in their space however has far more value than any therapy session – the children basked in the attention from all the players.  

We value true heroes like the Unlimited Titans and we thank them for the work they do for charity.  They are all role models and showed patience, love and support to all the children. They all interacted and played with the children and made every child feel special!  Like Zeus said in Hercules: “A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart”.