Mentorship Storytelling Event

Last Saturday we started direct community involvement in our Mentorship Programme through exploring what experiences people in our community have had with mentoring and being mentored. This was the first step towards incorporating the interests and needs of the community in a mentorship training that will be offered early next year. The stories that people shared will inform the training we develop.

This mentorship story circle also provided a once off opportunity for the participants from different parts of our community - from participants in our Rites of Passage programme to their parents to individuals from partner organizations - to share and witness one another's stories.

Eating lunch before sharing our stories

 

After sharing stories, people spoke about components of mentorship that appeared in the experiences shared. Many felt strongly that mentors should not identify those they mentor, it is the role of the mentee to identify someone they want to grow with. In the stories shared, mentors were sometimes family members and teachers and mentorship relationships were sometimes formal and informal. Nearly every person identified that a mentor must be able to listen deeply. Mentorship, some said, is largely about self reflection and about constantly learning from our experiences and reactions. 

 

We left the event with so many more questions... What does it mean to be somebody? What role does this play in mentorship? How can we together heal and build the fabric of our community through shared ownership and shared vision? 

 

What is your story? In your opinion, what are the most important components of mentorship? If you joined the training what would you like to explore? Keep your eye out for the next mentorship storytelling event in January. You do not need to join the training to come to the story circles.