The mentoring challenge
Jalawelo provides caring professionals with an opportunity to leave a positive and indelible footprint on the life of Jamaican youth. We adopt a coaching approach when working with mentees in our Young Adult Circle (YAC) program. In the business world, coaches are generally engaged to help develop the capabilities of high-potential performers.
When thinking about our youth, we may come to mentoring relationships with the assumption that these youth are low performers who need to be prodded along. The truth, however, is that our YAC members are youth who are ready to take the necessary steps to improve their prospects for a wholesome and rewarding life. While there may be a need to nurture the life skills needed for perseverance and overall personal development, we want our "mentor-coaches" to look beyond the current reality and embrace both the challenges and rewards associated with helping another human being with hidden potential become all that s/he can be.
We encourage our mentors to take the Mentoring Challenge: Have a large and positive impact on the life of one of our motivated young adults.
Let's change a life, one at a time. Let's impact a nation.
Goals of the mentoring relationship
Help mentee complete the Individualized Education & Development Plan (IEDP) to chart a part forward.
Motivate mentee to persevere through the steps needed to accomplish the goals outlined in the IEDP.
Help mentee establish personal values and adopt a life vision.
Provide friendship and emotional support.
The outcome of Jalawelo’s YAC program is a young adult who has developed the communication and life skills needed to thrive in today’s world. The young adult is also competent in math and English, has identified an area for career/job development and has started on the life-long journey to passionately pursue that objective in order to provide for self and family and to contribute to the community and society at large.
"Mentoring takes place between young persons (i.e., mentees) and older or more experienced persons (i.e., mentors) who are acting in a non-professional helping capacity to provide relationship-based support that benefits one or more areas of the mentee’s development." Elements of Effective Practice.