Contributing to the community-are you?

In this journey called life, we all need someone to look up to as a role model especially those who are less privileged than us..

I believe that these people often need the support and encouragement in order to succeed.
This is why contributing back to the community in schemes such as mentoring is a worthwhile cause.

I am currently involved in the Business School Mentoring Scheme at my workplace. The scheme is in partnership with schools in the London borough. The school which I was allocated to had been performing badly in the last few years but through the mentoring scheme and dedication of the teachers results have improved tremendously.

The scheme is straightforward, each of us are allocated a mentee who would be in Yr10 or Yr 11 in preparation for sitting the GCSE exams.Once a week or once a fortnight we meet our mentee for an hr session to discuss any areas in their schoolwork which they would like assistance on.

My mentee is Sakina -an Afghanistani girl who moved with her family to the UK nearly a year ago. Before she came to the UK she had been moving between Afghanistan and Pakistan with the family. Sakina is one of the few girls who was lucky enough to receive education in Afghanistan and Pakistan. She was able to learn English through after school activities like the English Club.
This has allowed her to come over to the UK and the education system here.

The purpose of the mentoring sessions are to provide guidance to the mentees in their schoolwork in areas such as Maths, English and Science. Before the scheme, the mentees generally are struggling with their grades so as mentors we try to help by providing tips on studying or ways in which they can improve their work.
The teachers also set up after school sessions to help these mentees and we try to encourage them to participate in these sessions.

From my perspective, it is a rewarding experience as when I meet my mentee she is often pleased to see me and both of us look forward to the session.
Sakina is a hardworker and I can see she wants to achieve big dreams...and I believe her family has a strong influence on her as both her parents are working hard to make something of their lives. Her dad runs a takeaway restaurant and her mom is in college learning English. Her family are lucky compared to the other Afghanistani families who do not have the same privilege.

Couple of weeks ago my office held a Mentor Celebration evening to recognise the achievements of the mentees. Both Sakina and I received our certificates and it was an enjoyable evening where I took Sakina around our office to see what our working place is like.

Mentoring is a rewarding experience and it's not just rewarding for the mentee but as a mentor myself you discover things about yourself and able to contribute back to the community..

It is definitely a worthwhile cause which I will continue to participate in...so if there is something which you enjoy doing-think of ways in which you can do it towards a worthwhile cause..