Roughing it for troubled youths' sake

One local man has a unique way of helping young people figure out their social adjustment problems – he takes them camping.

Lee Eskdale runs the Wilderness Youth Challenge, now in its ninth year of operations. He has seen all kinds of kids: those with drug problems, those involved in crime, even those who are just socially awkward for one reason or another. Their adventures near Nordegg in the summer have changed them all for the better.

"We developed the program as a relapse prevention initiative," he explained.

Relapse prevention may be noble but it still requires the support of the community. That's why Eskdale is hosting an upcoming event called Call of the Wild to not only bring in much-needed funding but also to give the public a taste of what it's all about.

The challenge serves youths aged 12 to 18 who have been referred from outside agencies, mainly through the Youth Justice system. The object is to take the ones with sufficient motivation to get on the right track in their lives and to put them into a position of the greatest responsibility that they've ever had to face: being able to survive in the great outdoors while working as a team with likeminded teens.

The participants are always in good hands. Eskdale is a former member of the Canadian Forces and has volunteered as a search and rescue worker. He worked with Edmonton's Hope Mission and the Herb Jamieson Centre where he first saw the extent of how people get on the downward spiral and how tough it often is to climb their way out.

The expeditions always start with a few days of basic survival training, including wilderness first aid and being aware of – and avoiding – predators. They also learn the importance of camping while leaving no traces except your footprints.

Then they are set off to camp at a different location and are left on their own. They are monitored but Eskdale and his other team members don't intervene unless there is an emergency.

It's not for everybody, he admits. First, prospective participants already have to on the road to change with a set life plan. He sees his role as support to make sure they stick to their plans, even when dramatic changes enter into their lives. Even something like going back to school can spark a relapse, he says.

He also admits that his tactics might be unorthodox. "It's a take-off of an old Corrections Canada program that ran back in the 1980s when the Young Offenders Act came out. They had nowhere to put any of those little guys at first," he confessed. "I remember seeing the impact it had. It was huge."

He was a cook in one of those early programs.

"We offer a ten-day experience that is a bit out of the box. There's no treatment or mentoring initiative proposed. We hike deep into the backcountry. They're taught how to lay out a site and how to use the environment properly. For four days and four nights, they're well-equipped with a curriculum to follow."

He says that "it's very hard to work with youth on the street level."

The money issue

Running this program takes funding and Eskdale says that he's hoping to rely on sponsorships more than grants for the future. He's been very grateful to businesses like Global Cell and TD Canada Trust so far, both of which have contributed to helping make the program successful so that it can survive on into the future.

Eskdale has also taken the money matter into his own hands, starting a fundraiser called Call of the Wild. At last year's inaugural event, he had four Edmonton Police officers take the adventure over a three-day long weekend to promote the cause. They raised pledges and experienced the firsthand benefits of the larger challenge, although on a much more condensed schedule.

This year's fundraiser is in a week and half and Eskdale is still looking for volunteers.

"We've opened up 10 solo sites and we're offering to let people experience the same solo activity that our youth experience."

Interested parties only need raise pledges.

He said that it doesn't matter how much they bring in; it's simply the support that he's after.

"We'll keep you safe and bring you home again," he promised. "We're just very pleased for people to get involved."