Your Stories
Oct 2011 “Today I met with Jen, the mother of an 11-year-old girl who has a
mentor with brothers in arms. Her daughter has had a mentor for 3 months now,
and it was time to see how things were going. Going through the questionnaire, Jen
didn’t say much. Dealing with the distraction of her pre-school daughter and very troubled
9 year old son wasn't helping her concentration. Jen is a solo mum taking care of 4 kids with on and off help
from on and off people. Her son, when at school, has one-on-one supervision –
his behaviour is so extreme that he can’t be in a
normal classroom. Jen is just trying to exist. Today, when Jen had finished her
questionnaire – she hadn't said or written much at all, Jen can barely read or write – so I asked her, “how has
it been? Is everything going okay?” With a brief pause Jen began to respond.
Seated at the kitchen table - where there isn't enough room to have the chairs
on the floor and get around. She tilted her head toward me ever so slightly as
she started to recollect the last few months. I could see a twinkle in her eye
– Jen briefly talked of how her daughter was enjoying having her mentor...she
then went on to say how the family had been invited to the mentor’s house to
dinner and to play games on a couple occasions. She said how she had started to
become friends the mentor also...Jen had someone to talk with and be friends
with, someone who isn't just on and off. The twinkle that I saw was a glimmer
of hope – hope that I had nothing to do with, hope that the goodness and love
of another has everything to do with! Jen has found a friend, a support for her
and her family – Jen has found hope.” Jen is not this mothers real name, but
her story is - Wade McMillan
"The first couple of months were hard because it felt like a chore but now we’ve got to the point where it feels like mates hanging out, we both look forward to catching up, we don’t have to
do crazy activities and silences are okay. I think the biggest thing for my mentee is that he knows there’s someone out there who thinks he’s pretty cool." – Mick;
“My highs and lows of being a mentor. Mentoring through BIA has been a great experience, the highs would be that it is a huge privilege to be able to be a part of a young person's life, heaps of fun, and seeing your mentee become more confident in themselves is very, very rewarding. The lows are mostly when your patience or ability to persevere are tested, young people are not always easy and will push the boundaries, but nevertheless it is worth it to mentor them.” - Mentor
“The
highlight of being a mentor is just doing things with [her] that she doesn’t
normally get to do, like taking her to the park or swimming. She doesn’t live
with her parents. One of the highlights for me was taking her and her sister
to the zoo as they had never been - we spent hours walking around, they wanted
to make sure they saw every single animal in the zoo! ... I am
always looking for ways to encourage them. The impact I hope to have is
for the kids to know that I care about them and am interested in their wellbeing.
Sometimes I suppose the lows would be not knowing how to help them/reach them sometimes - ie I have asked about their family/homelife and they don't seem to
want to talk about it - which is understandable. Anyway, I am learning
more on this.” - Mentor