Youth Quest sets new direction for wayward teens

Four teenagers recently graduated from the first Youth Quest course - a new programme on the Kapiti Coast for at-risk teens.

Youth Quest has been set up by former police officer and RNZPC defensive tactics and firearms instructor, Paul Fong. He and his wife Tanya took a huge leap of faith last year when Paul left Police to set up the programme.

A grant from Vodafone pays Paul’s salary until the end of this year. But others working on the course are currently unpaid and the programme has relied heavily on volunteer assistance and donations of equipment and facilities.

However, 12 weeks of hard work was rewarded when the four teens graduated on 21 June.

Kapiti Youth Aid Officer, Constable Peter Swann, says Youth Quest has kept Police informed of the boys’ progress throughout the course.

“We knew these kids before the course and we’ve seen a huge transformation. They were four young guys with no direction.

“Common to all of them was that they had never had a father at home. They’d come to our attention because of things like vandalism, drinking, substance abuse and violence. They were all headed for jail.”

Paul says the boys spent the first few days detoxing and there was a lot of negativity, but it didn’t take long before they changed their attitude.

The 12-week course aimed to increase their teamwork and leadership skills with orienteering and problem-solving activities.

They visited a marae, tramped through the Santoft Forest near Bulls, covering about 30km in three days, and tried snorkelling and fishing.

They learnt about communication and presentation skills alongside practical activities such as ironing. They also spent time doing community work including plastering and painting the Kapiti Youth Centre and helping with mulching at public gardens.

“In the end they didn’t miss a single 7.30am pickup and all of them want to help out on the next course,” Paul says.

From left: Troydin Te Amo, Jason Parker, Satish Kerr,

Gary Clements (Youth Mentor), Terry Poko (Youth Mentor),

Zack Taylor and Paul Fong (Director).

All four had jobs to go to at the end of the course.

In the words of one of the course mentors, Terry Poko, they just needed “someone to encourage and support them and show them the right way”.

Gary Clements, also a course mentor, compared their change to sailing a ship - “they’ve changed their direction by a few degrees and a whole new destination is ahead”.

Several people commented on the respect the boys now show with gestures such as holding doors open and offering to help.

Key to the programme is that while the boys have been on the course, mentors have worked with their families to help them make changes at home.

Support for the boys and their families will continue for the next 12 months.
Peter says an unexpected benefit noticed by police, is the positive influence the boys appear to be having on their peer group.

“We’ve noticed a small ripple effect. Their new attitude seems to be rubbing off on some of their associates.”

Youth Quest was still without secure funding at the end of the first graduation, but Paul is confident money will be found to continue the programme.

The next course will start in August with nine boys. Youth Quest already has a waiting list of 30.