Please note: applications for the 2016 programme are now closed. Applications for the 2017 programme open in April.
Becoming a volunteer mentor is a wonderful opportunity to add value to your community by changing the life of a young person living in care (a children’s home, Child and Youth Care Centre or cluster foster home). The youth in the SAYes programme have been legally placed in care for their own safety and protection. At the age of 18 government support stops and they are required to leave. The move to independence is challenging for any young person, but it is especially difficult without networks of support, advocacy and guidance. In South Africa very little is done to prepare youth ageing out of care for this transition, or to engage with them once they are living on their own. The SAYes Transition to Independent Living (TIL) Youth Mentoring Programme is designed to change this.
SAYes recruits, screens, trains and supports volunteer mentors who are individually matched with a young person aged between 14 and 25 who is living in, or has recently exited, care. Using the TIL programme, SAYes mentors provide structured guidance, advocacy and support to their mentees as they face the many challenges and opportunities that accompany independent living.
Do I have the time?
The SAYes programme runs annually, beginning with mentor training in January/February and ending with programme graduation in November. Prospective mentor applications are considered throughout the year for participation in the following year’s programme. Mentoring involves a minimum time commitment, including attendance at training and match days, weekly face-to-face meetings, participation in monthly programme workshops and graduation.
Training
SAYes mentors undergo a full day of training before being matched with a mentee, and take part in a further two two-hour training sessions during the year.
Match Day
Mentors are matched with a mentee through a combination of proximity and gender (same sex), as well as facilitated mentor and mentee profiling (values, interests and personality) to inform mentee preference. Mentors attend a match day lasting approximately four hours at the beginning of the year.
Weekly Face-to-Face Meetings
Mentors meet their mentees for at least one hour every week in person between February and October. There are periods during the year when mentees might be unavailable to meet face to face – during school holidays, for example – and the same is true for mentors, so the programme builds in flexibility while keeping consistency as the priority.
Monthly Workshops
Mentor–mentee pairs attend a two-hour workshop each month. Workshops cover the five transition areas of the TIL programme and give pairs practical tools, plus the chance to meet other pairs and SAYes staff.
Am I the right fit?
You do not need a background in social work, teaching or psychology. What matters is that you are reliable, non-judgemental, willing to listen and able to commit for a full programme year. Mentors are at least 21 years of age, complete a screening process including references and clearance checks, and attend all training.