What is it you’re ready for?

Odd Job Eddie

When I was a kid, I loved this computer game ‘Odd Job Eddie.’ My task as I remember it, was to get Eddie to walk across each floor and jump up to the next floor. On each floor, I received points each time Eddie picked up a tool. I loved finding and collecting all the tools hidden there, picking up every tool I could find to go in Eddie’s work belt.  

I don’t remember Odd Job Eddie ever actually doing any odd jobs, and I didn’t care about the twenty-five points dinging in the background - I just wanted to make sure that when Eddie did get down to work he’d have every tool he needed. I did not want us to fail at a job later because in our haste to get up to the higher floors we’d failed to pick up a useful tool several floors below. 

As I stood before a group of young women who had survived being trafficked and were now asking me to go out into the rural villages and find the girls who aren’t in school before the traffickers do, and get them into school so they’ll be safe, I realised I was Odd Job Eddie!

I hadn’t realised that each qualification, degree, certificate, course, piece of knowledge, skill, tool and life experience I'd earned had been collected and put in my tool belt ready for this job. My experiences in life, the lessons I'd learned, the skills I'd acquired, the challenges I'd faced, the obstacles I'd overcome; they had all seemed random until this point. Now I felt like it had been basic training, preparing me for the mission I'd just been handed. This was the job my whole life up to this point had been preparing me for.

At the age of 5 on a flight to Spain, I was allowed in the cockpit! For a couple of minutes I was able to help the pilot fly the plane! I looked at all the buttons and levers in that tiny room and I didn’t have a clue what any of them did. But the pilot told me which button to press and which lever to pull. I knew the pilot had learned, and I knew if I wanted to I could learn too. In that moment, in that cockpit, I realised that we can learn how to do anything. I didn’t know how to find girls who weren’t in school and help them go to school but I knew I’d be able to learn.

When I was eight I heard a group of adults discussing their regrets. I noticed they didn’t regret the things they had done, they all regretted the things they had wanted to do but hadn’t, and so I committed to myself that if there was ever something I wanted to do, I'd do it. Answering these survivors requests to prevent other girls experiencing the horrors and torture they had experienced was important. I wanted to do it. I didn’t want to regret later not trying.

When I was fifteen I chose to do my school project on the sexual abuse of children. I contacted Childline and got some statistics and learnt some stories. I wrote and performed a monologue, sitting under a tree on the school field while my classmates filmed it. From then on, I wanted to work with abused children.

Whilst studying psychology at university, I learned about bystander apathy. The more people there are who can do something to help someone in distress, the more chance that no one will do anything!

As a teacher, I learned about child protection and how to report and respond to abuse. I learned it’s highly unlikely that a child will ever tell you they're being abused - and you’re not legally allowed to ask. I learned that one in four girls are sexually abused before the age of sixteen, and one in ten  boys.

On my way from England to Australia, I lived in a little Greek village for a year and learned that living in another culture is one of the greatest adventures and greatest privileges. Travelling alone forced me to face numerous challenges, and with every challenge I successfully overcame, my confidence in myself grew. I learnt I could rely on myself and trust that I could figure things out.

Studying for my diploma in Life and Business Coaching was empowering and taught me to think differently. It set me up with the beliefs I’d need to lead a child protection organisation.

And, I felt as though every book I'd read had led me to this point and prepared me for this. The books about the plight of women and girls had taught me that massive problems could be solved; the advocates in those books had taught me that people can step up and successfully do what is needed.

I hadn’t realised that my entire life, just like Odd Job Eddie, I was collecting the tools I’d need. I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today if I hadn't had the education and adventures I've had.

What tools have you put in your work belt?

What challenges have you embraced?

What obstacles have you overcome?

Think of the lessons you’ve learned, skills you’ve acquired, education you’ve had, the work you’ve done on yourself, and the adventures you’ve had - what is it you’re ready for?