Training for Potential Mentors

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Saturday, January 22 was a long but productive day. 15 potential mentors (senior or elder friends) attended 7 hours of intensive training. We covered the research on mentoring, the programmatic standards, What is and is not effective mentoring, and Do's and Don'ts and the entire process from the referral of the young person to the closure of the mentorship one year later. There are still some policy issues to be resolved but we also had the 4 new case managers at the training. Tina and I will get to spend at least 2 days next weeks with the new case managers from the United Nations Association of Georgia. UNAG is a non-profit agency that promotes several programmatic initiatives.
The potential mentors were very impressive. These are eager, dedicated and intelligent people. It is amazing how well they speak English. We really have to listen carefully. They asked many questions which we extremely pertinent. They kept Tina and I on our toes. We did many group exercises, role plays and group discussions. It was obvious to everyone that I am not very good with powerpiont presentations but they were kind to me and helped me hit the right buttons, etc. The people are very kind. Thanks to Enstroms and Tillie Bishop, I had lots of toffee and Colorado pins to give out to the participants. Tina and I have not figured out or had the time to post pictures yet. We will try to do that soon. Sunday, Jan. 23rd we hope to see more of the City and the history. Peace to all. Joe

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