[:en]This article talks about the aspect of using knitting activities as an empowerment tool for users through risk-taking, communal cooperation and self-assertion. This concept is explored through the following of the authors personal journey and a group of homeless teen mothers. The author explains that she found there were three main stages of this empowerment process; taking risks and asserting oneself, an original state of disempowerment and finally collaborating newly found empowered individuals and then their integration into their communities. During her time interning she was handed the task to look after 10 homeless teen mothers. Strangely she recalls that, in fact, her input into their journeys towards empowerment happened not in her planned group discussions, but, during random bump ins in the living room, the halls and/or offices. Her input into these lady’s lives was to teach them valuable life-skills in all aspects of life with the aim to help them in their time of need/crisis. The idea of teen living programmes is to help give these young individuals structure in their lives where they have never had before, thus, being the main task for the author during her time there. Most of these young individuals feel disempowered by the idea of joining these programs as they feel a loss of power, location, role and place even though attending is optional, making the task extremely difficult for those who run these programs. Trying to help these young women that the sense of achievement and positive self-regard to achieve a sense of empowerment is the hardest part for the program leaders as due to these individuals social standing they struggle to recognise these concepts.

“Empowerment is a dynamic process that occurs between individuals and their communities.”

Three months into her time helping these teens she was asked to help teach the group to knit. The idea of a group activity allows those participating to learn new skills through watching others participate in the activity and to role-play, thus, learning from each other and identifying their own strengths which give these individuals resources they can then use once they leave the program to live their lives in the outside world. Using creative activity for those at the program to use allows for comfort, a means of coping as well as support. This is an aspect I have already looked into within my previous research. Learning these skills from the aid of a creative activity, such as knitting, allows one to master one’s own environment, a skill I believe is strongly important on the journey towards self-empowerment. The author goes on to explain that she had a sense of disempowerment during the beginning of her time with the program, however, this changed once she began teaching the girls to knit as she felt in control and a sense of power. The Schwartz Theory of Basic Values is something I have been looking at previously and power is one of a human’s basic values in order to feel good. This is a fundamental aspect to my campaign and shows that the use of group organised knitting can help the youth climate change activists feel empowered, and, therefore, feel confident in their movement. Hence keeping these individuals motivated when striving towards a more sustainable future. This is an important factor as the task of making the world a more environmentally friendly place seems almost impossible as many still do not know enough about the subject.

 [:]