We are two guys named Wille and Eric. We work as supervisors on the Leader project. Grow with Hästkraft. We thought we would share a little about ourselves, and our journey to help others.
”The help was not enough - or they just didn't care.”
We ended up at Grow with Horsepower through a high school where we went out on an internship, and we felt good out here. We both come from very chaotic home situations, which resulted in us also being chaotic in school. The help was not enough - or they just didn't care. What we understand today was about a lack of knowledge, hence poor results for us in school and low self-esteem. In connection with this, we ended up in the wrong crowd and ignored school. We fell into circles with substance abuse, as we made the wrong decisions to feel good there and then.
Grow with Horsepower is a daily activity aimed at people with what is called Neuropsychiatric Functional Variations - abbreviated NPF. This includes, for example, to mention a few of the diagnoses ADHD, Autism, ADD among others. What makes the activity special is that you get to be involved and influence your day. In other words, you get to say what you want to do but also how you want to do it, and that was what we enjoyed. Then there was also the fact that there was an adult you could trust there and feel safe around, which made us stick with the activity. But the most important reason was that we got to be ourselves and choose what needed to be done. It was also us who had to come up with the solutions, which made us feel understood and respected.
We both have the diagnosis ADHD, which means that sometimes you have a thousand thoughts and ideas but also find it hard to focus on things. But when you really have an interest in something, you are passionate about it and only focus on that.
But also that emotions can be difficult to control, because just like thoughts, emotions become stronger than for most people, which also leads to an increased risk of poor mental well-being.
Things that can be difficult in everyday life
If we are at work and become overstimulated and tired in the head, we can become easily irritated or silly and have difficulty concentrating. The best way to work with this is to take a break and then do one thing at a time and get help from someone. Something we can also struggle with in everyday life is sharing our attention on different things. If we are out working, it can be difficult to keep track of everything happening around us.
We work outside in nature in an area called Fulltofta where we have been given a nice opportunity to be on a beautiful farm. We were asked if we wanted to be wage-subsidized employees as supervisors out at Grow with Horsepower, because the project leader saw potential in our experiences and knowledge we needed to acquire in our private lives - and of course, we said YES!
On the farm, we have chickens that the youth in the project get to take care of, where they learn to manage the chickens such as giving them water and food. In the activity, there are also two horses that we go out and ride in the forest, and there the youth get a chance to learn body language from the horse's side to learn to understand and see other people's body language and well-being. The youth learn all handling of horses. We also collaborate with Fulltofta Nature Center. Where we help to wash signs in the area, weed, carry in firewood for the winter, we also shovel snow in the winter, and sand so it doesn't become slippery. We also work during several seasons to prepare in their greenhouse so they have vegetables and herbs that they can use in vegan meals in the café's operations.
Our working method is about meeting and trust
The youth we mentor get to decide how their tasks should look, and how they should be performed. Our task is to help them along the way, through support and advice but also to be available if there is anything. What we have noticed with meeting is that if you do not listen to the person in question – to what they want or feel – you get no positive result. The person must feel heard and understood for it to work in the best way and feel needed and respected.
The future of the activity is that we will create a Vlog, that we will go out and give lectures, that we plan to educate industry professionals in meeting, the right working method when working with people. We want to do this to spread as much knowledge and understanding as we can.
Thank you for wanting to read
Wille and Eric
Mentors at Växa med Hästkraft
Here you can read more about the activity:
Växa med Hästkraft on Facebook
Grow with Horsepower Coompanion
The activity will also soon launch a new website
