Discovering the potential of children through mentorship
When it was discovered that the children of some Tzu Chi’s care recipients needed help with their schoolwork during Circuit Breaker, an online mentorship programme was initiated by Tzu Chings to provide such support. In the second mentorship programme that spans over a period of four months, not only were there more tertiary students joining the ranks as young mentors, the partial lifting of the preventive measures had also allowed teachers from Tzu Chi Teacher’s Association to provide one to one offline activities, which were customized according to the children's interests and their family status. Other family members were also involved in these activities which helped promote parent-child bonding. Significant progress is shown by these children after four months of guidance and companionship by the volunteers. The plan for the second season lasted for 4 months.
Darwish got along very well with his mentors during the home visit. The progress he made after going through the mentorship programme was unexpected by his mother.
Normazura, Care recipient: He really like he wants to meet up with people, last time he was also like his brother, he go inside the room and hide, avoid to play with people. With the Mentoring with love, he has gained more confidence now.
In the second mentoring programme, apart from the online mentoring classes conducted by 64 Tzu Chings, as preventive measures are partially lifted, teachers from Tzu Chi Teacher’s Association had also customized activities that suit individual children for their one to one interactive session.
Alex Chen, Social Service Associate: In fact, we launched our first mentoring programme online in May due to Circuit Breaker. When the first mentoring programme ended, we discovered that some children were not able to fully concentrate when learning online. Therefore, we sought for the professional help from teachers from Tzu Chi Teacher’s Association to accompany the children in their study and cultivate their interest in learning.
When people say thank you what should you say my dear? Welcome
In order to strengthen their English-speaking skills and social skills, teaching was incorporated into the activities that the children are interested in, and that had given the entire family a happy family time together.
Normazura, Care recipient: With the activity, they give us chance to bond with the kids. The pizza making session is the happiest one. Because on the day itself, it’s one year after my husband passed away, so like the moment we cherish together, we feel happy, so I really happy.
Alex Chen, Social Service Associate: Most of our charitable support are in the form of living expenses subsidy or free medical treatments. The fusion of charity and education has enabled us to provide a more holistic care to them and also better benefit the children.
Darwish: I love my mum, because she always help me a lot, when my mum cook something, I always eat the food that she make.
The companionship and guidance from volunteers have been targeted to discover the potential of the children, and the best reward for their effort is the progress and improvement of the children.
