Bright Stars program calls for mentors

BRIGHT stars, a mentorship program for vulnerable youth, will host its second mentor training session for people of the greater Durban area on Saturday, 24 October at Hillside Church, Hillcrest.

Based on the popular international Big Brother and Big Sister systems, ordinary citizens can transform a life. Program manager, Ruth dos Santos, explained that half of the students who register for grade one do not matriculate. “Our mentorship programme pairs an adult mentor with a youth and they spend just one hour a week together. This is often all it takes to transform a life and give hope for the future,” dos Santos added. The mentors for the program are recruited and trained on how to care for the youth they are assigned to, to help them reach their full potential and to help them realise the value they have to society.

Honesty, compassion, respect, responsibility and courage are key aspects to mentorship. These characteristics accompanied with weekly hour sessions is almost certain to transform a child’s life for the better. Statistics show that a mentored youth is 53 per cent more likely to participate in school, 32 per cent less likely to engage in violence and 46 per cent less likely to use drugs.

Interested volunteers can contact Bright Stars on info@peaceagency.org.za about attending.