Recently, ISF football coaches attended a two-day course with Ragamuffin to better understand and manage difficult behaviours expressed by some children. Ragamuffin (a child protection training organisation) and ISF have been working together since December of last year and already many of our staff have been involved with their Art Therapy induction training.
Ragamuffin has developed Arts Therapy as a tool to reach out and heal the emotional and physiological pain of children. Song, dance and drawing are used as a means of interacting with the children to understand and help children through their experiences.
Using football as a therapy tool, our coaches were educated in the importance of their role not only as a trainer but also a role model to the children they work with. Team building games and role-playing provided an insight to the coaches’ understanding of the children’s backgrounds and home life.
Not surprisingly, the coaches were quite in tune with the children they work with and had already created their own way of providing trust and a secure environment for the teams.
Collectively, they expressed their perspective in providing peace within the children. To them, this was an important quality because “when there is peace within a child, it is spread to their families, communities, and eventually throughout Cambodia.’’ Many of the coaches view their role as a protector, supporter and as an example of how they too can make something of their lives, but putting a smile on the kids faces was their main objective.
A huge thank you goes to Sam and Carrie from Ragamuffin for providing our coaches with a greater knowledge and understanding of the children they work with and for the skills to help these kids work through their behaviour difficulties with football!!!
