How I did it: SAILING MISS SADIE the recipe
Eccentric social entrepreneur takes 3 British
persistent young offenders on an empowering white knuckle ride of
self-exploration, sailing to Venezuela in severe gales, enduring constant
alien threats, leaving them wondering; is life really a process of
self-discovery or self-creation?
This film was fuelled by Kaye's passion for preventing
young people free-fall through the criminal justice system on course for short
and violent lives. If it's true that we've produced a generation of homicidal,
morbidly obese, knife wielding teenage maniacs, we need to take responsibility
for that as individuals. We can’t expect young people who’ve been in gangs,
who’ve experienced violence and been violent themselves, to change – to want to
change – after a few weeks in prison. If you want young people to exercise greater self-control,
you have to find new and more daring ways of empowering them first.
Drawing on her wealth of experience working as a counselor & mentor inside London’s Feltham
Young Offenders Institute, the place the media call “a finishing school for
career criminals”, Kaye explodes the myth that to dare to understand, to empathize
and communicate, you must be from a similar social background yourself. The truth is
that to understand other people, whatever their background, all you need
passion, honesty, creativity and respect.
The protagonists introduce themselves as lazy,
aggressive, directionless, drug-abusing, institutionalized thugs and transform themselves into
self-aware, socially motivated, responsible risk-takers. They begin the film sniggering
at how they've played the human rights card to their advantage. They end it understanding
what it means to have your human rights violated and individually determine to
do something about it.
The film is their chance to tell their own stories in their own words, far from the
pressures of gang culture, victim mentality and unhelpful labels. They engage
in activities that challenge them physically, mentally and emotionally and
bring them in touch with who they really are deep inside. Selected at random
and previously unknown to Kaye, they are not exceptional young offenders. They
are reflective of the diverse personalities that characterize any random group. They are "the norm".
The film can roughly be divided into 3 acts. The first two use sailing as therapy. The sense of freedom and ultimate natural high that comes with experience of uncertainty
and danger, empower them. After training in Bequia, a tiny island oblivious to the
tyranny of UK Health & Safety regulations where they are treated like
heroes, not 'hoodies', they learn to sail dinghys, schooners and local double-enders, helping
revitalize an impoverished island’s youth sailing community. Their
hard graft is rewarded with the opportunity for a Pirates Of The Caribbean-style adventure, crewing a 60 ft yacht 600 miles to Venezuela in the worst weather that part of the world had known since Hurricane Ivan struck in 2004.
They finally arrive in Caracas and come face to face with their Venezuelan counterparts inside the Capital’s brutally anarchic El Rodeo Prison, where the prisoners roam freely with automatic
weapons and grenades. They compare the terror caused by violent teenage gangs
in parallel worlds. They interview the prisoners and learn what it means to have
your human rights violated in shocking detail. Faced with a colossal problem
and a system plagued by corruption, they are inspired by ordinary citizens and
reformed former inmates going to extreme lengths to seize control of the
streets. They assist in confronting teen rebels in the slums of Caracas, coercing entire gangs to down their weapons and join Venezuela’s gang
rehabilitation ‘Alcatraz’ project.
Some scenes in Venezuela are extremely disturbing but they are
an essential part of the process of the self-transformation for the protagonists. The overall result is
a unique and charming film of courage, passion, spirit and hope. The boys are
instilled with new confidence, self-discipline and a renewed passion for living.
They have a deeper understanding of what it means to have human rights violated and never
abuse the term. Since returning to recession-hit, apparently “Broken” Britain,
they have all managed to find jobs, remain in full-time employment, achieving
goals they believed were impossible dreams at the start of the trip. I have, of course, continued to mentor them... And a year on, if Kaye needs mentoring, she says she goes to them!!! Geoffrey Nga'nga is now an actor performing with the prestigious National Youth Theatre of Great Britain while studying Creative Writing at UCL. Christopher Tahaney is a student at Edinburgh University, studying Spanish. And Sam Todd is teaching sailing to young people with disabilities in Devon. They have each helped other young people like themselves turn their
backs on a soul-destroying vicious circle of crime and blame through their continued voluntary work with Kaye in their spare time as Prince's Trust Young Ambassadors. None have been in any further trouble with the law. Prince Charles recently wrote to Sadie Kaye thanking her for the work she did with these and other young people from his Prince's Trust. To read what he said and what others have said, visit her website http://www.sadiekaye.tv. But for Kaye, the greatest honor is having made a difference to these kids' lives and inspiring them to want to do the same for others. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams...
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Read how I did it… 4 years ago
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