What resilience looks like

What resilience looks like

Recently four of our staff took 22 children on a three-day hike to the Otways. This group of 12 to 13 year olds from suburban Melbourne had never slept in a tent, used a Trangia stove or walked for kilometres, let alone with a full pack on their back.

These children needed to show resilience, and resilience they did indeed show.

Day two, we packed up camp into our backpacks and hit the track for a 14km hike along the Great Ocean Walk with picturesque views to inspire us.

12km in and some children were beginning to break. They were struggling. There were some outbursts and some very colourful language.

Then we witnessed a moment that brought home everything we set out to achieve. Two kilometres from the day’s destination, a young lad dropped to his knees. He couldn’t take much more.

Next thing we see another boy walk up to his friend. He took the back pack off the boy who was on the ground. He put his hand out toward him and lifted him to his feet.

“You’ve got this buddy,” he said. “Let’s finish this together.”

He then put the other boy’s pack on his back, over the top of his own. For the last 2km, those boys walked together, hand in hand, and made it to the final stop – Johanna Beach Campground.

Communication. Teamwork. Love and support. Our young participants inspire us to do better every single program. These two young men truly showed us what resilience looks like.