This is Jonathan.
He's 16 years old and lives in Rubavu, a small waterfront town off the shores of Lake Kivu in Rwanda.
He's real and so is his story.
JONATHAN'S PAST
For years, Jonathan felt alone, unhappy and angry. He didn't know why. All he knew was that inside his heart, soul and mind he was hurting and he felt confused. But he refused to talk about it or to let himself cry.
Instead, he lashed out at the other kids in his community.
"I didn’t want anyone to get close to me, especially
the girls," affirms Jonathan. "I thought that girls were useless. Whenever a young child spoke and said things that I thought were wrong, I would slap them.
I didn’t want them to talk."
Jonathan's behaviour didn't win him any new friends and he didn't have any long-standing friends to lose, either.
He stood alone.
Jonathan was not popular. He had no one to run around with, play soccer against or even, to crack jokes with. The kids in his community steered clear—Jonathan had a horrible temper and he never smiled. All of this left him feeling incredibly lonely and tired. Deep down inside, Jonathan wanted a happy life. Fortunately, he had the self-awareness to realize this and that he had the power to change. Yet, he didn't know how or where to begin.
JONATHAN'S DECISION
One day while walking past his school, Jonathan noticed a group of kids laughing and playing together. Everyone was smiling and having a good time.
No one was yelling or looked angry and none of the kids turned their backs when they noticed Jonathan's interest.
"I wanted to join in," says Jonathan. "The other children looked so happy. I couldn't believe the boys and girls were playing football together."
Taking a deep breath, Jonathan swallowed hard and approached the kids. Fumbling for his words, he nervously asked who the kids were and why the boys were playing soccer with the girls.
A girl answered, saying: they were part of the Kanembwe School and Right To Play's Gender Equality and Child Protection club.
She explained that the group met once a week to learn about inclusion, child rights, equality and more—all by playing games and making up theatre sketches. She said the club was fun and that everyone was learning how to expand their acceptance and understanding of one another. Each week, they met to play a game or two of soccer to work on building skills like, unity and teamwork.
Something inside Jonathan clicked. This was the opportunity he was looking for. Before he could lose his nerve, Jonathan asked if he could join the club...and the soccer game.
All of the kids were listening. They said: yes!
"When I started participating in the games and activities, I felt included," says Jonathan.
"My loneliness went away.
Right To Play taught me that girls are the same as me. Now when I see a girl, I see her as my sister.
They are people, too and they are my friends."
JONATHAN, TODAY
Jonathan is happy.
He's outgoing and sweet, funny and sensitive. He smiles all the time and loves laughing and joking around with his friends. He has a lot of them too, boys and girls, and treats everyone fairly and with kindness.
With the help of the club's Right To Play Coaches, Jonathan has worked hard on his social skills, choosing to actively participate with his teachers in school and to get good grades, as well as be proactive with the other members of the Gender Equality and Child Protection club.
Last year, the club's Coaches invited Jonathan to be a Junior Leader. He accepted and now, before and after school he's busy helping others by openly sharing his story and by acting as a mentor for the kids living in his community.
"I am also helping teach adults and families,"
adds Jonathan.
"Every month, we put on a play for the whole community to watch, so that we can show them
how to treat girls and boys equally.
We teach about children's rights."
Along with the rest of the kids in the club, Jonathan's driving and creating equality for girls and for boys at home, in the classroom and on the playground for a game of soccer.
Jonathan understands the power of change. He never misses an opportunity to encourage others to attend school, to respect and listen to one another and to make friends with boys and with girls.
"I want to be a Right To Play Coach
when I grow up," says Jonathan.
"So I can encourage kids like me to improve."
And when he shared this story—his story—with us surrounded by a circle of his friends, Jonathan cried.
They were tears of joy.
Photography by Terence Babb
Infographics by Carmen Sposato
In 2015, Right To Play launched the Play for the Advancement of Quality Education (PAQE) program with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Global Affairs Canada. Active in eight countries, PAQE uses Right To Play's experiential learning methodology to build teacher capacity and remove barriers to education to improve learning outcomes.
