Mentoring Matters

At Ahaspora, we believe in the major impact that mentoring can have on individual lives and communities, and as such embarked on a mentoring program dubbed “Changing Mindsets, Channeling our Future” in 2013 as our flagship Give-Back program.  The goal of the mentoring program is to impart personal and professional knowledge that Ahasporans have acquired by virtue of their exposure to both local and global exploits to our next generation. Our main focus is on information critical to becoming a good citizen, ideas, concepts and actions which cannot typically: areas beyond what is taught in the classroom, such as – initiative, leadership, innovation, amongst others.

In 2015, we added on to our mentoring community by partnering with the Yale Young African Scholars Program (YYAS), a program aimed at expanding access to African scholars in high school towards applying for university in the US, and beyond.

This August, Ahaspora was particularly busy with mentoring. On August 16, 2018, we organized an Educators Conference as part of the YYAS camp for teachers, counselors and educators in Ghana to provide them with information useful to mentoring their students through the University application process. With 42 attendees, Ahaspora provided insight on “being an international student in the US”, “Educators as counselors” “Financial aid and college admissions” amongst others. The program was most beneficial to the educators who said so themselves. One of the participating educators from Burkina Faso had this to say:
“The program was great! We have got lots of information for our students. Let us keep communicating and make the group a family. Thanks, Ahaspora, for organizing this event”.

Following the YYAS camp with 100 students, and after the launch of the mentoring program, Ahaspora will select 40 students through a competitive application process for a year-long one-on-one mentoring program with Ahasporans.

Aside the YYAS program, mid-year, we organize a Career event as part of our mentoring activities. This year’s event took place on August 25, 2018 with over 50 mentees and 20 mentors who shared the successes and challenges of various career options. A chef, doctor, social worker, IT specialist and others accomplished in various work fields, shared the ins and outs of their career choices, highlighting the need for passion, innovation and hard work. Participants then partook in a speed mentoring session with the larger Ahaspora community.

A mentee commented on the program, “I would rate the program as excellent so far for it has given me an excellent mentor with whom I have a very good and effective relationship despite the challenges of being in the boarding house. I have benefited in self confidence, attitude towards learning, and career development through this program. I wish it could be expanded to a larger number of people.”