GET TO KNOW THE GIRLS

Kara "graduated" from the Rainbows program after she turned 9 years old. When Rainbows announced we were extending the ages to serve up to 12 years old, Kara's mom reached back out to see if she could re-enrol since she was now 10. Staff have reported that during Kara's first 4 years of the program she had 2 close friends that struggled to balance one another's emotional needs and fought often, leaving a person out. Kara was always shy and reserved. When she returned to program the 2 peers she had interacted with previously had gone and she was required to make new friends. This dynamic has proved successful for Kara as she has found a new group of friends who have encouraged her to come out of her shell and try new things like dancing, gymnastics and karaoke! Kara was also selected to participate in a reading study with County Kids Read where she was able to bring home 10 free books of her choice and keep a log that was used by CKR staff to analyze how reading impacts girls from rural communities and their wellness/literacy. This project increased Kara's confidence as she was able to share about her interests, talk about her achievements and display that she has an advanced reading level. Since Kara has returned we have noticed she is smiling more, her body language has changed and she participates in new activities with her peers.

Alia has been with Rainbows since she was a junior, referred to Rainbows through Community Living Prince Edward, she lives with autism. Her single mom is a busy healthcare worker and she has a close relationship with her dad who promotes a strong Indigenous identity for Alia.   When she is in the playroom she spends most of her time interacting with volunteers as her interests lie more with particular video games and technology – whereas many of her peers are more interested in dancing and singing.  When the Dramatic Play Area turned into a Wellness spa, we noticed that Alia started engaging in play more with her peers.  Allowing them to seat her, put a smock over her body and use a blow dryer in her hair.  Alia enjoyed painting her peers’ nails and coming up with “salon” conversations.  Allowing her peers to physically touch her was a milestone we had never seen in her before.  Merely weeks before, Alia was struggling with an art project that didn’t look the way she imagined.  She got so frustrated that she was screaming and crying and had to step away from the project and take some space.  Since Alia took agency in the Dramatic Play area spa, staff have seen upward motion in all that she does.  She laughs more, makes jokes with staff and expresses delight in seeing us.  Alia built a bond with one of our placement students that took the time to get on her level, sit with her and share similar interests.  Alia was very sad when the student’s placement finished and spent many weeks asking for her but has grown to build stronger relationships with all the staff in program and continues to interact more and more with her peers.

It was just another day at Rainbows, much like all the rest.  The girls came barreling into the playroom off the bus, changing from their outdoor shoes, excitedly hanging up their jackets and washing their hands to be seated for snack.  Our Program Manager was completing the attendance and when one of the girls was missing her peers started shouting that she had went home sick.  Zuri piped up and said “she didn’t go home sick, I saw 2 children push her up against a tree and choke her at recess.”  Naturally this scenario was alarming for Rainbows staff so we called the child’s guardians to check in – as warrants our protocol for all absent children.  The child confirmed her peers claims that she had in fact been assaulted on the playground and felt embarrassed to tell staff at school so she faked sick in order to go home.  The Program Manager let the child’s guardians know that if she wanted to come to Rainbows that she was more than welcome, so they drove her in to participate in the day’s activities.  Staff noticed that she was visibly impacted; this child who typically has a lot of spunk, an infectious sense of humour and a confident, independent thinker that is rare for her age had appeared quiet, withdrawn and somber.  Our Program assistant as able to take the child and one of her friends aside for a conversation a week later, just to check in and see how she was doing since her demeanour hadn’t returned back to normal.  Our staff listened without judgement, shared some insight about her own experiences around safety, and held space for this child to be reminded that Rainbows was a place she belonged.  The guardians of the child were able to follow up with the school and have the support of the local OPP detachment to adequately address the situation.  It’s important to remember Zuri in this story – the eight year old who stood up and told the truth.  Zuri and the child that was assaulted do not typically interact in the Rainbows playroom, they have their own smaller group of friends or spend time with volunteers.  Zuri didn’t have to tell staff what she saw on the playground – but she did because Rainbows develops a sense of compassion and social justice within the group.  

When Zuri first started coming to Rainbows in her junior year, she had a lot going on in her life at home with family and at school. She was very loud and abrasive, bullied her peers and challenged many of the volunteers. Last year Zuri's mom asked if she could stay back in the junior group instead of moving up with the rest of her peers. In this time Zuri was able to develop the skills to regulate her emotions better and clearly communicate her needs. Zuri would often take it upon herself to organize her younger peers into participating in different activities with her in the playroom. This year her mother advocated for her to be placed in the senior group with the other girls in her same grade. Zuri has absolutely flourished! Not only has she been able to better communicate her needs, she has taken to advocating for herself and other girls in the program who are experiencing bullying at school. Zuri has shown kindness, empathy and compassion towards other girls in the program who are struggling. Zuri enjoys her time at Rainbows because it gives her a break from her brothers, she feels safe and has learned how to make friends. Zuri says that her time at Rainbows taught her to be kind, how to stay calm and control herself and how to think before she reacts. This is why she was able to move up to the senior group where she feels she has more in common with girls her age and values the amount of years in program.  Zuri is one of many success stories at Rainbows where a child experiencing her own adversity, given the proper tools – can learn to articulate feelings and advocate for others as well as herself.

Jasmine was in the Rainbows program for 2 years by a referral from community living.  Jasmine lives with autism and was also non-verbal.  She spent a lot of time between home and CHEO appointments in Ottawa as well as speech therapy.  When she first started at Rainbows we used a notepad to communicate with her.  As her speech developed, many of her peers started to understand what she was saying and things she was asking for because they spent so much time with her.  Ironically enough, her peer that developed the keenest sense of helping translate her words was someone she had the most conflicts with!  These are always the best Rainbows stories when two girls who are at odds with one another learn to co-operate and compromise.  We had gone on a field trip and on our way back, she had sat in Jasmine’s spot on the bus – Jasmine advocated so hard for herself because of her strong sense of justice that her peer chose to give her the seat back without staff needing to intervene.  On the last day of program, staff received a call from Jasmine’s mom to let us know she would not be returning to Rainbows the next school year.  She had been experiencing intimate partner violence in the form of stalking and harassment and decided to leave the community so she could keep herself and her children safe.