Mwalimu Mentorship Program
What Is Mwalimu Mentorship Program
Mwalimu Mentorship Program – Mwalimu” is a swahili word that means tutor. Mwalimu Mentorship Program is an intrest based annual apprenticeship program designed by Streetlights Uganda aimed at linking mentors (Artists) to enable mentees (Street connected children and youth at risk) between 12 and 25 based on areas and skillsets they are intrested in learning, achieving and growing.
This is to enable them develop their own skills, strategies, and capabilities so that they can always tackle hurdles they face effectively even without the mentors’ help.
Purpose
- Develop working relationships between artists and former Street connected children.
- Help at risk youth and street connected children learn from experiences of mentors
- Improve on confidence of these children.
- Develop communication, study, personal skills
- Develop strategies together on how to cope with street situations and challenges.
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Create or open up opportunities to platforms for these children can explore and exploit
- Build their capacity to address their most pressing needs
Program Pillars
- TRAINING
- SELF DIRECTED LEARNING
- COLLABORATION
- MENTORSHIP
- EXPOSURE
- SOCIAL CHANGE
IMPACT
Working with mentors (Artists) who train these children has been a key aspect of this program. They train them in different skills ranging from painting, drawing, sculpture, drama, dance, among other art forms together with engaging them in soft skills training.
We carried out a pilot in 2019 in the slums of Naguru with Ghetto Film Project were we impacted 10 youths who participated in our Unseen Me Exhibition in 2019. Due to Covid 19 and lockdown, most of our 2020 activities were virtual until 2021 where we had the first cohort of 14 youths from Bwaise- Mayinja zone who went through the program and graduated at the end of the year.
Partners
Mwalimu online sessions and Podcast
Since the outbreak of Covid19 in Uganda in 2020, the team came up with remote ways to engage with the beneficiaries through remote ways of learning like using ZOOM, WHATSAPP, and GOOGLE MEETS among other platforms. This was aimed at limiting the physical engagements during the lockdown periods but continuing to achieve the program objectives. Our plan is to build it into an accessible service through which conversations amongst former street children can share and find tangible outcomes and solutions to the problems they face. Through this, we will also be launching our Mwalimu Podcast soon. watch the space.
Objectives of online engagements
- To offer remote guidance to our beneficiaries/mentees through online sessions in various disciplines of their intrests at any ttime possible
- To offer expert advise to mentees on relevant topics and issues that affect their lives . The advise can range from guidance, counselling.
- To provide phsycosocial support to the beneficiaries facing challenges ranging from Gender based violence, education issues, entrepreneurship, children’s rights.
- To offer remedial chats or followup sessions after the joint physical sessions
- Develop strategies together on how to cope with street situations and challenges.
- To provide prompt answers to questions mentees might be having