A journey of Mentorship: Sean and Mojalefa

Sean and Mojalefa “I’ve been involved as a mentor in my own small way for ± a year and a half now. My mentees name is Mojalefa, an 18-year-old boy and it soon became apparent he needed a lot of work, especially around his education and confidence as I felt this was neglected. This is by no means his fault but more around his circumstances, so that’s where I started. I didn’t want to come across like someone who was just telling him what to do and going to do and not being from SA, I also needed to learn about his background to understand and be able to relate to him. We had lots of sit down time getting to know each other. I started with some English classes and made some changes right away and lay down some ground rules going forward. My main goal was just to be a big brother type figure, be honest with him, talk about life, right and wrong, what to be wary of, what he wanted to achieve from life and help him have experiences that he had never done before. I’m very big on Trust and being a good human so I set about getting to know him through experiencing stuff together. This mostly involved talking, asking questions, encouragement and using my own experiences to relate to him. I would try and meet him once a month at least and we would always have lunch.”Those who eat together, stay together!” I pay for his transport and give him a small amount of money for Data so we can communicate. I didn’t want any excuses but I took the slow and steady wins the race approach. We had our challenges and I felt he was taking things for granted a little bit, so decided to have a sit-down, which was tough, but needed to happen. We had a bare all type of chat, he took things on board and our relationship grew significantly after that. What I said came from a place of caring and I think he responded well. In the time I have known him, his results have gotten better in school, he now has a bank account, he writes messages using proper English, he has been to the zoo, the lion park, played adventure golf, has been to many restaurants, has improved his timekeeping, learned how to cook, become more comfortable on the internet and with technology, has a clear vision of his future and what’s required for such, and even had a part-time job for a time. We talk about everything and he knows he can ask me anything, from politics to girlfriends, crime, and sports, etc. I have enjoyed my time with him and feel he has also taught me some things. It’s hard to put into words but watching him grow in confidence and encourage other kids that are younger than him is very satisfying. He is a good kid, respectful, stays out of trouble, doesn’t drink or blame anyone for his circumstances and generally has a good attitude and wants to improve himself as a young man. I can recommend getting involved, there will be challenges along the way, but the positives far out way any negatives. I’m very happy to talk to any potential mentors to elaborate further, they can give me a call or drop me a mail and I’m happy to help.” – Sean