Mentoring is all about relationships. We must have relationships in order to thrive and grow as humans, no matter where we were born. Migros Aid is about helping nurture and allow relationships to happen with volunteers and our immigrant, refugee friends. Experts say that we need 5 mentors outside our immediate family in order to develop and grow as we were created to do so. Migros mentoring relationships take many forms. Here are a few stories this summer how Migros Mentors are investing in the lives of our refugee friends.
- A mentor took a young man to his first baseball game
- When one mentor had a new baby in her family, her Afghan friend taught her to make “sweet soup,” a traditional Afghan gift for new babies.
- A mentor family and a Syrian family went camping together. While on that trip, M and I were talking. He said in their culture they just drop in on people all the time to visit, no invitation needed. I said, you can stop by our house whenever you want. He said, we are in you culture. We want to do it the American way, so we will call first.
- A mentor family had family visiting from out-of-town. Their Afghan friends brought homemade baklava with a note on it that said “”Welcome Grandmother” in Poshto and English.
- A mentor assisted a man to get a job
- A mentor helped a family with mail they don’t understand
- A mentor enrolls a boy in Kindergarten
- A mentor enrolled a family into SNAP benefits
- A mentor assisted a family to find a realtor to learn about buying a home
- A mentor gave an old guitar and a speaker to students who want to learn
- A mentor helps a recent High School student apply to Ivey Tech
As you can see, mentoring relationships are about helping our refugee friends with tasks but they are really about the relationships. Mentors cannot solve every problem or help with every need, no one can do that. Our goal is to assist our refugee friends on empowering them to be self-motivated and prepared for their new life in America. This takes time and patience.
If you want to mentor, please contact us today to get more information.
