The week kicked off on Wednesday with the Youth Mentoring Celebration on the 46th floor of a Collins Street office tower - that's a long way up when you're scared of heights! Minister for Youth James Merlino was on hand to officially launch the week, which he said was an important recognition of the contribution mentors make to our community. In a video message, the Governer of Victoria Prof Julian De Kretser also praised mentors who gave their time across the state to help young peole better connect with their communities.
The Gunditjmara dancers, which include several mentees and mentors from the Kalay Wartee Indigenous mentoring program run by the Gunditjmara Aboriginal Cooperative in Warrnambool, performed the Welcome to Country ceremony for the delighted audience of mentors, mentees and coordinators. Program coordinator Adeline McDonald said it was a great opportunity for the young people to show the Minister and others the work they have been doing as a group and with their individual mentors.
Celebration host Mick Murphy, a long-time mentoring true believer and secretary of the Victorian Youth Mentoring Alliance, said that it was important to recognise mentors as they do not always see the difference they are making to the lives of the young people they choose to spend time with. Often, he said, their undersell their contribution because the building of a trusting relationship is a slow, incremental process. But this is exactly what makes mentoring such a rich and worthwhile community activity.
Youth Mentoring Week brings positive community messages about youth mentoring. The more the community is aware of what youth mentoring is and the benefits it can bring the easier it is for each individual program to recruit mentors, seek funds and build community support. The Victorian Youth Mentoring Alliance, the national Youth Mentoring Network, the Office for Youth and the Regional Coordination Projects (including this one, the Barwon South West Youth Mentoring Network) are emerging voices in the everpresent public conversation of 'what can we do to help our disengaged young people?'
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