I always enjoy seeing mentors feeling as though they are achieving something in their mentoring journey. Yesterday was one such day.
One of the mentors has really been battling bravely with her mentee, who just could not get organised and motivated enough to achieve a task. Today, they sat together at the computer to download a vital document the mentee needed for a part-time job application. The mentee does not have email at home and the mentor is not allowed to use her private email address. She could have used my work email address but was unaware of this (another point for the learning curve), so both mentor and mentee were frustrated, the mentor because she was so pleased to see her mentee get angry when they could not resolve this matter - at least he is becoming keener to make some progress.
Students in Australia wanting to work on Construction sites need a 'Green Card', a health and safety certificate. Schools run courses for the students from time to time. This selfsame mentor had accompanied the mentee to see the teacher concerned a couple of weeks back, but he was unavailable at the time. They returned yesterday and were told there was a charge of $90 for the course. The mentee visibly dropped his shoulders as he accompanied the mentor back to the meeting room for mentors at the end of the session. Clearly, home finances were stretched and he knew he would not get that money from home. We spent time discussing this during the debrief. The mentee needed to start thinking about what could be done, rather than just giving up. With the assistance of the School Coordinator, the mentee was summoned to see his mentor very quickly, the purpose being to ensure that he collected the Application Forms in the meantime. While the mentee was being summoned, the School Coordinator approached the Principal and chatted about the issue. The Principal agreed to see what he could do to find 50% of the cost from other sources. When the mentee met up with the mentor, he was given this news and how his demeanor changed!! The mentor had persevered, shared the issue with others during the debrief, a solution had been found and we witnessed a wonderful WOW! moment in the program, which might be a significant moment in the mentee's life journey. He had seen how his mentor cared for him, was willing to explore options etc. etc. and the positives that came out of the combined efforts of a number of people. The mentor will hopefully discuss the whole process with him soon ie, how to achieve a goal by exploring ALL possibilities and developing a 'can do' attitude.
Small moments like that make me feel very proud to be associated with a youth mentoring program!
One of the mentors has really been battling bravely with her mentee, who just could not get organised and motivated enough to achieve a task. Today, they sat together at the computer to download a vital document the mentee needed for a part-time job application. The mentee does not have email at home and the mentor is not allowed to use her private email address. She could have used my work email address but was unaware of this (another point for the learning curve), so both mentor and mentee were frustrated, the mentor because she was so pleased to see her mentee get angry when they could not resolve this matter - at least he is becoming keener to make some progress.
Students in Australia wanting to work on Construction sites need a 'Green Card', a health and safety certificate. Schools run courses for the students from time to time. This selfsame mentor had accompanied the mentee to see the teacher concerned a couple of weeks back, but he was unavailable at the time. They returned yesterday and were told there was a charge of $90 for the course. The mentee visibly dropped his shoulders as he accompanied the mentor back to the meeting room for mentors at the end of the session. Clearly, home finances were stretched and he knew he would not get that money from home. We spent time discussing this during the debrief. The mentee needed to start thinking about what could be done, rather than just giving up. With the assistance of the School Coordinator, the mentee was summoned to see his mentor very quickly, the purpose being to ensure that he collected the Application Forms in the meantime. While the mentee was being summoned, the School Coordinator approached the Principal and chatted about the issue. The Principal agreed to see what he could do to find 50% of the cost from other sources. When the mentee met up with the mentor, he was given this news and how his demeanor changed!! The mentor had persevered, shared the issue with others during the debrief, a solution had been found and we witnessed a wonderful WOW! moment in the program, which might be a significant moment in the mentee's life journey. He had seen how his mentor cared for him, was willing to explore options etc. etc. and the positives that came out of the combined efforts of a number of people. The mentor will hopefully discuss the whole process with him soon ie, how to achieve a goal by exploring ALL possibilities and developing a 'can do' attitude.
Small moments like that make me feel very proud to be associated with a youth mentoring program!
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