During Easter vacation, Heart-Centered Leadership Foundation organized a 4-day personal development program for youth ‘Impact Week’. The goal of Impact Week is to offer the youth heart-centered skills to become more self-aware, reflective, and accountable people and then to learn how to apply them in their everyday world with themselves and others.
Through fun and interactive games, reflections, and engaging dialogues, the participants got to learn what “Becoming Heart-Centered” means. These activities focused on the ‘interpersonal development’ of the participants, which allowed them to start developing tools that would help them identify their values and principles, build their identity, recognize their qualities and abilities, and understand and strengthen their attitudes. Furthermore, they also learned how to communicate more effectively about their emotions and needs with themselves and others.
A total of 27 participants between the ages of 12 to 17 participated in groups of 5 that a group leader guided. The group leaders were young adults who are currently a part of our in-training Heart-Centered Impact Coaches group. The group leaders played a fundamental role in encouraging and supporting the participants throughout their learning process. By carefully listening and motivating them, the group leaders allowed the participants to feel more confident in themselves and have the courage to step outside of their comfort zones.
Throughout Impact Week, trees were used as a symbol that represented the growth of each participant. Starting from the beginning of the program, the youngsters were able to learn about how their uniqueness makes them resilient; how each part of the tree reflects who they are, what they are prepared to confront in life, and what they need in order to continue becoming stronger and more resilient. Each day had a specific theme that contributed to the metaphor of the young people as a tree, touching topics such as character, principles, values, and attitudes. By the end of the program, each participant got to write down on 3 leaves: what changes they want in their life and what actions they need to fulfill to make the change happen. Once they had finished writing on their leaves, they got to place their leaves on a tree along with the leaves of the other participants. It was beautiful for us to witness how the participants were able to trust the process and allow themselves to begin the journey of personal growth.
This Sunday, May 22nd, we will be organizing an Impact Week reunion for the participants who have completed Impact Week I. During the Impact Week reunion, all participants will get the chance to connect back with each other, share what changes they have experienced since participating in Impact Week I, and learn what they can expect for Impact Week II: ‘Being Heart-Centered’ which will take place in October 2022 and will focus on the theme of ‘intrapersonal development’.
Are you interested in learning about the experiences of the participants?
Stay tuned for the testimonials of the participants!
Impact Week is part of the project ‘Connecting Hearts’ and is made possible thanks to the co-finances of CEDE Aruba and Samenwerkende Fondsen Cariben.
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