Yusuf the artist
[stock image, not original art therapy work]
World Children’s Day is celebrated annually on 20th November. The goal of World Children’s day is to improve child welfare worldwide and promote and celebrate children’s rights, The following story about one of the young people we have supported at MCFB illustrates how with the right support, children can overcome difficulties in their lives, realise their true potential and begin to thrive.
Yusuf (not his real name) is a 12-year-old refugee young person who arrived in Edinburgh with his family in 2016. He had been through a difficult journey from his home town. He has a mild neurological disorder and his condition led to physical and behavioural problems. His parents said that his condition made it difficult for him to make any friends. When he first joined our weekly group, Yusuf had difficulties staying focused on one task. He also presented with some post-traumatic symptoms, such as displays of aggressive behaviour. He had very limited English.
After a few weeks of joining it was great to see and observe the progress in Yusuf’s behaviour as he stopped showing any aggressiveness and became more open to sharing and taking turns. Being in the group helped Yusuf improve his English and forge new friendships with other children. The group also helped in building his self-esteem. During a series of art therapy sessions, Yusuf would always use the colour black in all his art works and refused to use any other colour. Throughout the sessions Yusuf was always encouraged and praised for his art work Yusuf seemed to be very proud of himself and started to introduce himself to us as being ‘the artist’, or ‘fannan’ as he says in Arabic.
Over time, we started to notice that he had begun to use different colours and drew a beautiful rainbow in one of the art sessions, which suggests that he had started to build a more positive image of himself and of life. The group helped Yusuf and his family understand that he can do things and activities beyond all of their expectations, which has helped to encourage him always to try new things.
