“Every day it’s like she comes to school with a backpack full of rocks. With enormous pressure on his shoulders. Living in a difficult family environment disrupts the lives of young people. »
These words are those of Martin Dusseault, professional coordinator of the basketball program Good in my sneakers from Jeanne-Mance secondary school. Those of a social worker who has seen hundreds of young people pass through this establishment in a disadvantaged area.
Few of them have stood up with as much bravery as Théresa Mwanga, winner of the prize for academic and sporting perseverance from the Quebec Student Sports Network (RSEQ). Unlike other teenagers, Theresa was deprived of a stable family to help her grow up. Supported by the DPJ, she spent her time in her suitcases, changing houses. To carry heavy baggage for his young age.
“In a single year, I had to go through four different family environments, and above all, through several courts,” she says in an interview with The Press. Experiencing so much instability when you’ve just become a teenager is definitely not easy. »
Theresa initially lived with her mother, before moving in with her father. As he hated the cold, he simply left the country one winter.
“With him, it wasn’t a child-adult relationship. The roles were reversed, it was me who had to take care of him,” explains Théresa Mwanga.
When you’re 13, you shouldn’t be the one taking care of your parents.
Theresa Mwanga
As she was alone, the DPJ placed her with a foster family. But things got worse. The new family gave Theresa little supervision, and even asked her to take care of the other child in her care, three years her junior.
“Our relationship was not healthy. I didn’t know where to stand with them. I must have been very mature for my young age. »
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Theresa Mwanga
At times, his adoptive parents even offered him alcohol, despite his 13 years. “I didn’t think it was bad, but I felt obliged to drink it,” she confides.
After a conflict with her adoptive family, Theresa fled. She returned to live with her father, having returned from traveling, for lack of other options.
Stability found
It was only later that she found the family she had always been looking for. She now lives with her brother, 15 years her senior. She hadn’t seen him for 10 years when they reconnected.
The instability experienced by Theresa, however, left its mark. During her first three years of high school, she was constantly skipping classes or failing. His third grade report card was downright catastrophic. “It opened my eyes. I understood that I had to do everything to get myself back in control,” she comments.
Beyond her poor results, Theresa was consumed by anxiety. The result of years of not knowing under whose roof she would sleep the following week. “She was so anxious that she came to me before matches to ask me not to make her play,” said her coach, Erica Godinho.
Erica, a former member of the Jeanne-Mance school, acts as a social worker in addition to her role as a coach. She put in place a precise intervention plan to allow Théresa to get back on track, both in terms of sport and school.
The results were striking. Theresa’s school average in mathematics, for example, increased from 60 to 86%. She no longer skipped her classes, quite the contrary. She attended tutoring sessions twice a week to improve her skills in math and science. “I have to work twice as hard as the others, but when I put myself to it, I succeed,” says the woman who was born in Congo, before moving to Canada at the age of 1.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY RSEQ
Thérésa Mwanga received the prize for academic and sporting perseverance from the Quebec Student Sports Network.
In basketball, she was named defensive player of the year at her school. This year, she asked her coach to join the best team. Something she refused before, for fear of failing.
It was basketball that allowed me to understand my anxiety. Now, I’m almost not stressed anymore, except before a match or an exam.
Theresa Mwanga
“She is no longer the same person,” considers Erica Godinho. She went from the girl who avoided stepping out of her comfort zone to the one who needs to. »
After high school, Theresa hopes to play college basketball. She dreams of one day working as a paralegal, lawyer or psychologist. Careers that she hadn’t allowed herself to dream of before her senior year.
“Before, I just thought about spending my years. Now I can think about the future,” she says.
So with a lighter backpack, it’s much easier to reach new heights.
Feel good in their sneakers
At Jeanne-Mance secondary school, located on Plateau Mont-Royal, in Montreal, the basketball program Good in my sneakers (BdmB) is offered to all students. It targets adolescents with different risk factors for dropping out of school or delinquency. Through this program, basketball coaches who also have training in social work supervise young players. Several alumni are involved in their development. The program is the result of a partnership between the school and the CSSS Jeanne-Mance. It is thanks to this program that Théresa Mwanga has experienced significant academic and sporting progress.