MWL 2.0: Tzu Chings meet their mentee in person for the first time
In 2020, students have to adapt to online schooling due to the outbreak of coronavirus. The livelihood of many care recipient households is also affected by the pandemic, causing many parents to be unable to monitor the studies of their children. Hence, an online mentorship programme was initiated by Tzu Chings in May to not only help these children with their studies but also accompany them in doing other non-academic activities such as learning sign language and doing handicrafts. After partial lifting of restrictions as the Covid situation improves locally, the young mentors finally get to meet their mentee in person at their home.
Mentee, Poh Wei Lun : Today like kind of nervous, happy also, because I get to see all my mentors in person
The second Mentoring with Love programme was launched in May and conducted virtually to adhere to preventive measures. After the lifting of preventive measures, the mentors were finally able to meet up with their mentee.
Tzu Ching, Lim Jun Hong : After seeing each other, I feel that I have known him a little bit more. Perhaps I am able to understand him better through our face to face interaction. I find him to be a cheerful and active student.
The face to face meet-up has brought the mentors and mentees closer to each other. The mentors also heard from their mentee about their progress over the past few months.
Care recipient, Daliah : She improved a lot, you can see that she bring a good marks. Today is the first day that I see the volunteers, the teachers, I can see them full of love, it’s very touched (to see) how they educate Aleysha. They did a good job.
The interaction between Year One Nanyang Technological University student, Chua Yong Le and his mentee, has strengthened his initial aspiration to become a teacher in the future.
Tzu Ching, Chua Yong Le : Aleysha’s grandmother shared that she thinks Aleysha is a child with great potential, she just lacks the resources she needs. This reminds me of my aspiration to become a teacher. It is my wish to guide my students to realize their potential. So, I find this home visit to be particularly enlightening, it has reminded me of why I am doing what I am doing now.
These fated relationship linked by technology has turned into a series of heart-warming stories amid the pandemic.
