AWB13: SERVING in the Hills (L.A.) - AVIVA

Our second and fourth days of service led us to AVIVA in Hollywood on Tuesday, January 15, 2013 and Thursday, January 17, 2013. AVIVA is a residential home that serves girls between the ages of 12 and 18 who are either in foster care or are victims of C-SEC (Commercial Sexual Exploitaton of Children).

On Tuesday, we prepared an activity for the girls to create a movie poster reflecting their future goals. We split the girls into two groups, one to work with several alternative breakers upstairs and the other to work with the rest of the alternative breakers downstairs. I worked with the group of girls that were upstairs. Two of the young women that I spoke to are in college, one beginning her second semester and the other starting her first. They knew exactly where they wanted to end up in life. One of the girls is currently studying criminal justice and eventually wants to work with youth in the corrections system. It was interesting to speak with her since we share the same major. She expressed such deep passion while talking about the court cases discussed in her classes and the ones that stood out to her. She also had a lot to say about Roe v. Wade and her opinion on a woman's right of choice. The other young lady revealed that she eventually wants to move to New York after she graduates. My fellow alternative breakers that were upstairs shared similar conversations with the young women they spent their time with. Surprisingly, the group downstairs did not have as much of an easygoing experience as we did. Several of the girls downstairs did not want to engage in conversation, appeared to be rude and were extremely standoffish according to the alternative breakers that worked with them. This rude awakening brought many of us upstairs back to the reality that these young women were not typical teenagers. They had been wounded and hurt by those surrounding them, people they should have been able to trust. They experienced traumatizing events at such young ages that most adults do not experience at all. Many of them are victims of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, neglect and violence that a normal teenager could not even begin to fathom. It was inevitable for some to not want to share their stories with us. They were scared that we would not understand or worse, that we would not care. That night, we had so much to reflect on. By the time Thursday rolled around, we were more than prepared for our second visit.

Resolution Stars

On Thursday, we created resolution stars and decorated picture frames with the girls. The stars were to depict a resolution for the new year and the picture frames were to contain a message or picture that each girl wanted to wake up to every day. I spent my entire visit with one 12-year old girl. For the sake of confidentiality, we are going to call this girl Teresa. Aside from her unusual circumstances, Teresa is not an ordinary 12-year old. She carries herself with the aura and demeanor of a young woman at least 16 years old. She is extremely intelligent, confident, has an interesting sense of humor and a vibrant personality that could light up even the dimmest of rooms. She is the epitome of the phrase "diamond in the rough". She has the potential to do great things and be anything she wants to be. My first encounter with Teresa occurred on Tuesday when she pointed out that my accent was different from the other alternative breakers. She began imitating the way I spoke, not to offend me but because she liked my accent. When Teresa walked into the room on Thursday, she instantly sat next to me and revealed that she had been trying to talk like me for the past two days. The conversation between us that day came so naturally. We spoke about her future goals, her favorite artists, and joked around. She even opened up to me about some of her personal experiences. I felt as if I was talking to my little sister. At that point, it was clear to me that Teresa looked up to me. Initially, I began making a picture frame for myself but as time went on, I found myself making a picture frame that I decided to give to Teresa. I wanted her to have something to remember me by, something to show her that someone does care about her. I wrote a note and stuck it inside the frame. When it was time for us to leave, I gave Teresa the frame. She was surprised and very happy. She told me that she promised to work on her attitude and will try to find me whenever she came to the east coast. Although it is highly unlikely that she will find me, it put a smile on my face to know that I impacted her in some way.

Visiting AVIVA was eye-opening for all of us. We learned so much from those girls. They taught us a lot about ourselves. Our AVIVA visit was the perfect example of the difference between helping and serving. On Tuesday, we went into AVIVA with the intent to help those girls. What we did not know at the time was that helping does not improve anything, it only makes things more difficult. The helping approach made them reluctant to speak to us. But on Thursday, we realized that our job wasn't to help those girls but to serve them. We figured out our purpose. For this reason, I titled each post "SERVING in the Hills" because serving is the only way to truly give back to a community and impact someone's life. My encounter with Teresa was a life-changing experience. I hope that one day I will see her again. Ultimately, Thursday was a great experience for everyone. We were able to successfully reach out to the girls that were originally unapproachable and get them to open up to us. I believe we made a positive impact on the young ladies at AVIVA, just as much as they made a positive impact on us.

-Tracey Hobbs