Sir David Martin Foundation - Helping young people in crisis

The normal day starts in the morning at about eight o’clock when one of the staff comes around and wakes us up. I get up to make myself a coffee and I always say ‘there’s no life before coffee’ then I drink that quickly and race to the shower and get undressed and race into the shower before there’s no hot water.

After getting dry and dressed I then go and make another coffee. We need to make a decision on what to make for lunch. By now it is about time to go to the morning meeting where we eat breakfast and talk about our weekend or what we need to do that day.     At the end of the meeting, we are told what we are doing today. Half of us will stay for group counselling. The rest will go to the classroom, woodwork, metalwork or farm work with Farmer Tom. 

At around 10.30am we drop tools and head off for morning tea and that is when we joke around and eat. Farmer Tom will then come around and say “come on let’s go, its work time”. We all head off to the class that we need to be in and carry on with our projects. I like woodwork the best but auto and working on the farm are close to follow. Then after an hour or two we head back for lunch, it is pretty much the same as morning tea but at a different part of the day.

Farmer Tom comes out and locks up the lunch room sending us back to classes. In the afternoon classes we can do things like music, links to learning and on Fridays we have open art, which is my favourite. I will go to that even if I’m feeling sick.

At about three thirty we have boot camp or gym for physical exercise because they don’t think walking one end of the farm to the anther a couple times a day is enough. At around four o’clock we go down to our homes (residential) where we can talk about life, the day or what ever tickles our fancy. It is our time, free time and we play in the games room or watch TV.

I cook a lot most of the time because I like it. I can cook cakes, cookies and other stuff like that. I cook dinner five to six times a week because I enjoy cooking. Sometimes I tell the other students I’m not cooking tonight. This is not often because I like to be able to eat the food. Then we do chores. I hate cleaning, I am good at it and know what to do, but I prefer to cook. Then we have time to watch a movie or call our family and friends and just chill out. Then about ten thirty comes about and its time to go off to our rooms and go to bed to wake up to start the same thing all over again but every day is different even if it feels the same.

 

Comments

Posted By: samantha pluis

i miss the farm n every one on it.. does tom still work there.. id love to see him once day n get bak in contact

Posted By: samantha pluis

o i was at the farm in 1995