2007/06/09
SPOTLIGHT: Li’l sisters & brothers
CHAI MEI LING and R. YASOTHAI
 Mentees from SMK La Salle PJ were involved in green projects in their school |
Siblings can be the best of friends, or worst of enemies. For 100-over youngsters, having a new ‘sibling’ for a few months was a new and exciting experience. journeyed beyond the former CHAI MEI LING and R. YASOTHAI learn more about this new mentoring programme
IT was quite a sight. Across the room, two figures — a jovial Indian girl and her young Indian Muslim charge — wrestled playfully while exchanging friendly banter in fluent Mandarin.
As Sharon Romeo, 22, draped her arms protectively over 15-year-old Syahirah Ali, it was apparent the two shared a bond not unlike that of two siblings.
For over three months now, Sharon has been more than a sister to Syahirah.
She was her mentor, friend and confidante — a relationship made possible through a pilot mentoring programme that kicked off early this year.
An ambitious project by any standard, Mentoring Malaysia entrusted 54 young adults with 160 lower secondary students from three schools in the Klang Valley.
Providing an elder person to a youth creates a safe and nurturing environment to ease the mentees in their journey to adolescence.
There is a need for this programme to be in place, said Dr Brendan Gomez, director of the Asian Research Centre for Child & Adolescent Development (ARCCADE) which organised the project.
All over the world, there are vulnerable children who are not able to reach their full potential.
They include children from poorer families, youths who lack motivation and experience, and highly gifted children who are lonely among the peers.
Without caring and positive older people who can support them, they become less able to experience positive youth development, said Gomez.
The escalating social ills involving the young in the country today is one sign our youngsters are crying out for help and proper guidance, he added.
"A lot of teens grow up hating themselves, especially after being demoralised by adults and facing teasing from peers. As an escape route, many resort to social ills.
"Mentoring Malaysia aims to intervene in this by reaching out to the young ones through positive people, positive places and positive opportunities.
"To connect to them, we need people who speak the same lingo. And who best to understand their culture than peers a few years older?"
Filling the shoes of these older and wiser peers were mostly undergraduate students of Bachelor of Psychology from HELP University College.
Selected from a pool of 152 volunteers, the 54 mentors underwent stringent training for six months, putting to the test their ability to understand the young.
The most important criterion, said Gomez, was whether they were willing to make a difference to the lives of these young people.
The mentors took on the role of caring individuals who, along with parents and guardians, provide their charges with support, friendship and reinforcement, becoming a constructive example to them.
This, by no means, involved acting as paracounsellors — keeping tabs on the youngsters’ daily activities or monitoring their academic performance.
Far from that, both mentors and mentees engaged in fun outdoor activities, dabbling in the world of performing arts, nature and wildlife conservation for 12 weekends.
It included drama classes at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC), tree planting at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia, volunteer work at the National Zoo and green projects in their school.
In between all these, the mentees were given a platform to speak out to gain exposure, building up their confidence and self-esteem.
One of them, Matthew Navin Sinniah, said participating in the activities allowed him to make a lot of decisions on his own. "I’m now more confident in the things I do," said the 14-year-old La Salleian.
In line with this, students’ participation from the three selected schools — SMK La Salle PJ, SMK Taman Petaling and SMK Jinjang — was through self-selection, rather than through teachers’ recommendations to avoid stigmatisation.
With support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the Ministry of Education, various organisations, schools and teachers, the mentoring programme recently saw the successful completion of its first phase, with two more expected within the next 12 months.
During a recent United Nations recognition ceremony of the project held at HELP University College, the results were apparent.
Mentees put up colourful stage shows which ran on scripts they had written.
There were also video clips of the youngsters preparing food for the birds in the zoo and cleaning up the sun bears’ enclosure.
More significant in projecting the programme’s success was the enthusiasm shown by the mentees and the proud smiles of the parents and teachers in the audience.
The bridging of social, cultural and racial gaps was there for all not to notice.
Sharon, who led one of the groups from SMK Jinjang, said there were a lot of visible changes in the mentees.
"While they used to keep to their own race and gender in the start, they are now mixing freely. The programme helped break down barriers.
"And when given the responsibility to carry out certain activities, the mentees readily took it up."
As the video showing some students toiling in their school garden came to an end, Susie Naddan, mother of mentee Sanjiv Naddan from SMK La Salle, beamed with pride.
"I’m impressed with the students’ pledge to continue with the school projects even after the programme has ended.
"It shows their level of commitment. My child has learnt something valuable."
A proven model
MENTORING models has proven that on-going friendship relationships between older persons and children have a significant impact on children’s lives.
Mentoring provides information, opportunities, nurturance and support for children.
The relationship helps children make important decisions and empowers
both the young and old to be more active in their community.
International evaluations indicate that children’s lives are
enriched and strengthened, leading to a more positive and constructive
behaviour with regard to education (school attendance and academic
performance), and peer and family relationships.
It also reduces risks of drug and alcohol use, and acts of violence.
In one research study, involving 1,000 children, children with mentors were 46 per cent less likely to use illegal drugs, 27 per cent less likely to use alcohol, 53 per cent less likely to skip school, and 33 per cent less likely to engage in violence, than a control group.
