RLabs Open Day – Northwood

It was grey, rainy and quite an unusually cold late spring morning… But uncle Terrence had our backs as usual. We exchanged some words with the early birds in the community over some cappuccinos and his legendary Mochas. I don’t know what was warmer, the coffee or the surprised smiles we received.

It never gets old, seeing people find out for the first time that an organisation like ours exists. You can also see the pride all our staff takes in sharing our various opportunities, as well as just sharing some kindness and generally useful insights & possibilities – all this to the backdrop of DJ Gary’s tunes. He decided to set up an extra sound rig right by the front door. This really woke the neighbourhood. 

People started slowing as they passed by, curious. Some even came right in. Eventually we had a bunch of children playing football with a tennis ball in the “front yard,” and randomly breaking into dance. We exchanged words with grateful parents and other curious community guardians of theirs. The impact of this event on the elders in the community was definitely heartfelt.

We also met some young teens, who were initially a bit shy to indulge their curiosities with questions. But they built up the courage and approached us to find out what was going on. You could see a glint of hope in their eyes and I think it’s safe to say that in a year or two, when they turn 18, we’ll see them join one of our programs and benefit from our various platforms. Even the really young children decided then and there that when they grow up, they want to join RLabs, create cool stuff and make people smile.

It’s especially beautiful seeing such young people take a sincere interest in their dreams (let’s not forget, this hasn’t exactly been the norm in our communities). But it seems this is slowly but oh so certainly changing, and it’s a beautiful experience to behold. It’s inspiring and fulfilling to see what our work does for them. It means more than we are sometimes able to comprehend when going through the motions of what we do on a daily basis. The writing, the content creation, the planning and the course and events setup – we often do it, forgetting what it used to mean to us at one point, until we see ourselves reflected in these young people we meet.

It is an honour and a pleasure to do what we do, to witness the virilization of HOPE, and the echo of our actions. Our time at the Northwood community centre really brought this reality back to life in us all. It is an exciting time in the journey of RLabs. We are on the verge of so many more great things.

This event just encapsulated everything we are about and everything we wish to achieve in the near future. It is a reminder that what we do is not only well received, but is in high demand. At this rate, we can definitely reach our goal of impacting 2 billion people by 2030!

If you have any ideas and insights into how we could speed up this process even further, please get in touch with us so we can make an even greater impact with the next open days. How can we take this to the next level together and reach even more people?

In fact, if we could rally even more promoters, or if you are an influencer, particularly in the communities we aim to target, please get in touch with us and help us attract even more young people to join?

Your support in this matter will not be in vain! You’ll be helping the youth around you, get excited and hopeful about the future – and learn things no one can take from them.

Please follow and like us: