What is Mentoring?
Answer: Giving Time to a Child/Youth in your neighbourhood
When Odysseus left for his long trip on the war path he asked his friend Mentor to keep an eye on his son. In Africa the saying goes: " it takes a village to raise a child". In our Western societies such spontaneous mentoring is not entirely unknown. You may even know or remember some yourself. But spontaneous mentoring has a hard time to survive in our modern life where active neighbourhoods and villages become rarities. At the same time our family structures change, to say the least, and demand for mentors grows. Hence the trend to bring mentors and mentees together through local organisations.
Who are the mentors and where do they come from?
For Greek and African mentors, problems such as lack of time, money and professional stress did not exist. Today's volonteer mentors have these problems. Demand for mentors exceeds by far their supply. And yet, some of them do exist and their number grows. They come from all walks of life: students, singles, married couples with or without children, retirees.
Why do they mentor?
They remember their own childhood (good or bad) and the people who were important to them. They know how important their responsible friendship with a child/youth can become for the personal development of the future adult. They enjoy discovering the world from a child' s perspective. They even may realise that they make an important contribution to building a more human and more connected society.
How do they mentor?
They spend just a few hours per week with a child or youth, preferably doing what he/she wants to do, but also making their own suggestions. School homework is not excluded, but sports, movies and various hobbies usually take front stage. They commit themselves at least for a year. The parents must alsways be in agreement with the arrangement. A few organisations particularly focus on mentoring of parents with very young children. This obviously benefits as much to the children as to the parents.
Conclusion
If your are interested as a parent, social worker, potential mentor or even donor (!) to find out more about this great idea please look up the contact list of local organisations and contact the one nearest to you.
If you don' t find an organisation near your home, maybe you would consider creating one yourself. In that case approach the organisation in your country whose profile appeals most to you. They will be happy to tell you how they started and how you should go about it. You also may contact the coordinator of ENCYMO.
