February 16, 2004
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Topic: RETURNING FROM THE WOODS:
AN UPDATE ON OUTWARD BOUND SOUTH AFRICA
Interview w/ Damien, a student on my 21-day Outward Bound course, as part of the Chrysalis program, group 04 Alpha. The interview was done outside of a farm school in Rondevlei, South Africa, about 3 hours from the OBSA base camp via sea kayaks. The interview was done while fending off the 50 or so chickens who were trying to eat all our food.
Q: So, Why are you here?
A: I want to change my life, make a better living for myself.
Q: What is it you want to change?
A: I want to stop doing the things I was doing at home, like drugs. I used to do drugs on the weekend. I wasn’t happy. I didn’t care about anyone else. I just did what I did.
Q: When did you start doing drugs?
A: I didn’t even smoke in high school. I felt left out and lonely, so I started smoking. I tried smoking, got used to it, and moved up to bigger things. My friend told me about a year and a half ago about ecstacy and how much he enjoyed it. I tried it and started doing it every weekend. It made me thinner (he shows me his bony arms).
Q: How did your parents find out?
A: My mom saw me after a night out. She knew I was on something, but kept quiet. She wasn’t angry, she was upset. And I want to make it up to her…
The craving for the drug is so strong. When you have money, it’s like you must buy. You must buy!
I started a new drug called tik (He describes to me how the drug is used). Your emotions get 10 or 20 times bigger, and you don’t sleep for the whole weekend.
Q: How do you feel now?
A: My mind is not set on drugs anymore.
Q: Was your childhood a happy one?
A: Yes, very happy. I moved a lot, so making new friends was hard. You don’t get used to people.
Q: Has money been a big problem in your life?
A: There were sometimes there wasn’t enough food for dinner. But I got used to it.
Q: So, what happened in school?
A: Grade 10 was the first time I failed anything, because I didn’t study. Primary school I studied hard, that’s when I found things interesting. High school wasn’t the same. There were times where I took care of the family with the salary I got from being a paver.
Q: What do you friends think of you now?
A: They’re proud. They see me making a change and they’re standing by me.
Q: You’re doing some amazing stuff.
A: That’s why I love myself. I won’t do drugs after Chrysalis because of the inner trust I have with myself, and because of my family.
Q: What are your future plans?
A: To go back to school and finish my education. Go to college, study to be a pilot. That’s my dream.
Quotes from students on the course:
“I’ve learned to work with people, to communicate with people, and most of all, appreciation.” – Eran
“It was hard for me to enjoy nature because all I could think of was pain. Then I thought, Dan and Menzi don’t complain. Then I started to enjoy nature. It was like a soap commercial, waking up outside, drinking water out of streams. The most important thing is mixing people, loud, quiet, violent, non-violent. I’m used to always being right at home. I learned to think, to plan, to work in a team.” – Rodney
“My self-esteem was growing and growing.” – Donavan
“Before Outward Bound, I had a short temper. I leanred not to be so fast, to think instead of fighting. It was nice to be here with such different people, and learn of their cultures. I’ve done stuff I’ve never done before, abseiling, climbing, kayaking. When you get one chance in life, you must take it.” – Randolph
“I learned more to communicate with the other guys.” – Lucky
“I learned to face a problem and respect nature.” – Jaco
“I used to think to go to jail is the only way to become a real man. I leanred at Outward Bound there’s other way to become a real man. There’s many ways to become something you want to be.” – Damien
More to come hopefully in the next few days…
-Dan
Comments (2)
It kind of makes you tingle.
Hope you’re doing well.
A rather inspiring interview, by the end. Also, wouldn’t it be great if everyone was forced into nature at some point in their (fairly) early lives? Maybe then we would have a more instinctive respect for it.
Fend off those chickens!