Eluna’s Expert Voices – Importance of Communication by Building Relationships
When asked about how to support a young person with the 7C of Communicating feelings, Renee & Yasin both underscored the importance of building relationships first. After hosting numerous camp weekends, Renee has seen a direct correlation between the level of trust and level of sharing at Camp Mariposa Philadelphia. Yasin, a mentor from Camp Mariposa New Orleans, talks about making sure to see kids at camp, therefore boosting connection, motivation, and ultimately communication. We’ve highlighted the following two takeaways from their wisdom and experience:
Create an environment that fosters sharing
“What it really comes down to is creating solid relationships between the campers themselves and the campers and their adults. When those relationships have been formed I think that sharing of emotions comes a little bit easier…. What I’ve seen from camp one to camp whatever we are on now is how connected the kids are with each other and how watching that happen, we’ve also seen an increase in sharing happen. And as they become more and more connected with their adult, then we’ve seen more sharing with their adult happen.” – Renee, Director
Build relationships by seeing and recognizing kids
“First you want to start by building relationships. You don’t want to call them out, but make sure you see them in those activities. That actually means something to those kids. When I was a kid, if an adult tells me hey you are doing a great job or you do good at this. That makes me want to do it more and more…that’s going to put the fuel in me, the motivation to keep going.” – Yasin, Mentor
