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From Silence to Voice: How Feeling Heard Gave Zheng-En His Agency

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From Silence to Voice: How Feeling Heard Gave Zheng-En His Agency

Zheng-En(right) teaching another kid to care for the farm.
The facial features of Zheng-En and other children in the image have been modified to protect their identity and privacy. 

Before coming to Mustard Seed Youth Home, learning was never a path Zheng-En had been supported to walk with confidence.

When He Was Alone

In junior high, he attended a small school in a mountainous area where his class had only four students. Lessons were often unstructured, with less than ten minutes of teaching time. If he struggled to regulate his emotions or keep up with the classroom pace, he would get sent back to his placement home for the rest of the day. Over time, Zheng-En grew used to the feeling that no one would stay long enough for him to make meaningful progress.

Without consistent instruction, exam preparation, or guided review, he entered his high school entrance exams unprepared. His experience reflects a wider pattern among many youths from high-risk or placement backgrounds: interrupted education is often less about ability and more about the absence of steady adult support.

Learn to Make a Choice

When he arrived at Mustard Seed Youth Home, things began to shift. After a conflict with another youth, the staff didn’t rush to discipline him. Instead, they first helped him to calm down. Once the moment had passed, they simply told Zheng-En, “It’s up to you to work hard in school or not.”

It was a simple sentence. But for the first time, Zheng-En wasn’t told what to do. Instead, the staff was staying beside him as he learned to decide for himself. This reflects a core principle of care at Mustard Seed Youth Home: lasting change comes through agency, with staff walking alongside youth rather than deciding for them.

Zheng-En chose to try. After a few months, he ranked third on the next midterm in his class. More importantly, he began to understand that learning could happen step by step, with support rather than pressure.

Through repeated experimentation, research, and application at the farm, Zheng-En also found the career path he wanted to take.
The facial features of Zheng-En in the image have been modified to protect their identity and privacy.

Lead Through Responsibility

At the Youth Home, Zheng-En also began participating in food and agriculture education. Guided by a professional consultant, he learned through hands-on practice, observation, and research. During one conversation with a Youth Home mentor, he casually mentioned wanting a space for farming. To his surprise, the idea was taken seriously. Staff prepared a plot of land and worked with them to plan, plant, and maintain it together.

Through this process, Zheng-En gradually demonstrated initiative and leadership, and eventually took on a small group leader role. In an environment where ideas were heard, and responsibilities shared, he began to understand the trust that comes with being taken seriously—and the responsibility that follows.

From Being Supported to Supporting Others

Today, Zheng-En has been admitted to a national university and is preparing for the next stage of his education. When choosing between schools, he intentionally selected one closer to the Youth Home—not for convenience, but so he could return often to support younger boys still on their journey. “I had others to help me,” he said. “Now I want to be there for those in need.”

His story reflects the long-term impact of accompanied education at Mustard Seed Youth Home. When young people are given space to be heard and supported in making their own choices, they not only rebuild their confidence in learning, but they also gain the capacity to support others in turn.

Support Mustard Seed Youth Home and help us walk alongside another young person in need.

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