mendproject:

Flying high: Mend visits a ropes course

Recently, the ladies at Mend stepped out of their comfort zone and into a series of zip lines, climbing walls and critical thinking games. As a teambuilding exercise, they participated in various ropes course activities facilitated by The Recreation Project, an organization that uses the fun experience of a ropes course to teach “the important life-skills and character-building skills needed to navigate a new landscape that for decades has been defined by war and conflict.” Through the activities, the women learned principles like teamwork, planning, creative problem solving, and building self-confidence.

“Planning is vital,” Aber Rose decided after carefully making her way through the spider web low-ropes challenge. “Before this experience, I used to not value planning. I would instead buy what I did not plan for.”    

They also learned that their actions can affect others beyond themselves, whether family members or the other seamstresses at Mend. All of the women took hold of the same rope, and one pulled hard on the end. The rest were asked to describe how they felt the effect of that one person’s pull.

“Through the hard pull; I noticed that anything harsh you do directly or indirectly affects people around you,” Amono Lily said.

Whether it was overcoming their fears to step off the zip line, building the confidence to climb a wall, or navigating a spider web of ropes, the women had a great time and are already looking forward to their next trip to The Recreation Project. Watch the video to see the ladies flying high on the zipline!