International Practicum in Hawaii

Alix McCoyChild and Youth Care

Upstairs at Kids Hurt Too

Also, there were 2 offices, a “circle room” for group, and a pretend room!

Downstairs at Kids Hurt Too

Kids Hurt Too Building

• The building it self had numerous other organizations and groups all under one roof. The rooms that belonged to Kids Hurt Too were separated for the teenagers (downstairs) and the younger kids (upstairs). Our activities were presented downstairs because there was a lot more room. The whole atmosphere was a warm and welcoming place!

Na Kama Kai at Pokai Bay“Children of the Sea”

The ocean is believed to have healing powers which is the perfect concept for all children who need some sort of healing and growth!

Our Role

• Our main role was to spend time with the kids. The people who worked there were called “Program Facilitators”. The parents also attended the activities and days away from the office to be there as a support. We also were program facilitators in a sense but our main job was to hang out. We learnt about the Hawaiian ways and were able to teach the kids about Canadian things!

Celebrating First Nations Day

This was our first activity day which Shaun and I planned. We had help from our whole team to make this day a solid success!! We also attempted leg wrestling but realized it wasn’t too safe.

Canadian Animal Day Our second activity day was planned by Kaitlin and Navada! The puppets were adorable and the pancakes were delish! Pin the tail on the beaver was attempted but wasn’t a big hit with the kids.

3 Positive Ideas I’ll Take Away From This Practicum

1) I loved the whole idea of including family in every part of the program. I will take away the idea to involves parents by engaging them in activities as a learning and growing experience.

2) I absolutely loved the squeezing of the hands to pass love around the circle. I thought it was a beautiful idea and will definitely use it if I have the opportunity to work in a group of little guys!

3) The last positive idea I’m going to take away is knowing that grief and loss can be turned into strength and resiliency. I loved how they integrated all sorts of trauma into a learning experience with positive outcomes!

Surf for the Soul

3 Similarities with a Previous Practicum

1) Kids who come to the program and there for a reason that impairs them somehow.

2) The families are involved in the whole process of growth and finding an opportunity to better their lives.

3) It’s important for kids to hear praise at these places. I made a huge impact and received many hugs because I was able to have conversations with the quiet kids. I helped them with crafts and joked with them the best I could!

4 Differences with a local Practicum

1) At KHT the parents were involved in every part of the process in the organization (volunteering, participating and supporting).

2) KHT is a place to support families and the kids together. They build relationships within the community and can belong to a group that has similarities.

3) In my Canadian practicum they use all materials until the bitter end. They recycle, reuse, and improvise with everything they get donated.

4) At KHT the rules are very relaxed in comparison. In Canada there is a set schedule and procedures which I found more secure and less stressful to work in.

We didn’t have the bus route right and ended up missing some of the morning but we did get some work done just at the end!!

The children cleaned one of the animal sanctuaries to earn their day at Sea Life! It was a wonderful lesson to give the kids that they need to work for things they want.

Practicum/Class Connections

I’ve learnt the textbook definition of kids with trauma but this was the first time I was able to actually work with it or learn about it hands on. You learn about stress in childhood and it just amazes me that an organization so wonderful actually exists for kids who are hurting!