YOUTHS SHOWN BRIGHT FUTURE
A REPEAT youth offender now on the straight and narrow credits a sixweek cultural camp to changing his life around.
Robbie (whose real name cannot be published due to legal reasons) fell into a life of minor crime but his troubles escalated when he got involved in drugs and found himself charged with armed robbery.
Now, he’s a soon-to-be dad, with an aspiration to get back to playing footy and securing a trade.
Robbie was one of eight boys who participated in the six-week Yinda Program camp at Braden Downs in Woodstock. It is aimed at getting youth away from the trouble of the streets and to help them learn skills and about their history.
Two out of the eight boys have gone back into the justice system and reoffended. Four have finished their Youth Justice hours and are back on track with their lives and staying out of trouble.
The remaining two boys moved back to their hometowns shortly after and are happy.
“I learnt you can talk about your problems,” Robbie said. “There are people to help. Previously, it was nobody cares about me. But once I pulled my finger out, I realised there are people who want to help.
“The thing is if you want help, the only person who can get help is yourself if you really need to.” life
He said the conversations at the camp gave him a better picture of how life works.
Robbie said at the end of the six weeks he didn’t want to leave and upon getting back to the city he had no interest in returning to a life of crime.
“I wanted to make changes because of the talks that we had,” he said. “I definitely, still am today, looking to find some jobs to get, to move forward, instead of taking a step back.”
Mentor Nigel Logan said the longform camp was just one aspect of the program and it took time to build a rapport with the youth to be able to take them for such a long period of time.
“It definitely works. We are no longer putting a Band-aid over these kids … it’s deeper down,” Mr Logan said.
“We do go through escalations with the young people … that’s the hard times. But when we see young fellas like Robbie, it makes it all worthwhile,” Mr Logan said.
The Yinda program will complete a 48-hour camp at the end of March and hopes to have a second long-form trip by May.
In addition to the initial $500,000 of funding provided in 2017-18, the Yinda program received a further $475,000 for 2018-19.
The Yinda program has worked with 55 young people and families since the program began.