2020 mentor Catrin shares her experience on the Routes mentoring programme, and how mentoring can have a truly mutual impact.
I signed up to the Routes mentoring programme as I had quite a lot of free time and wanted to do something exciting, new and rewarding. I was excited about the training opportunities Routes provide, meeting and sharing ideas with the network of other women, learning mentoring skills and helping my mentee achieve her goals.
I am passionate about supporting refugees and asylum seekers, especially women. The Routes mentoring programme is a great opportunity to form a more personal, one on one meaningful relationship with my mentee and make a difference in each others lives. I was also keen to build my own confidence and listening and communication skills by supporting someone else.
I was excited about the first meeting with Zhaneta. I had been briefed on how she described herself and what her goals were and it felt like we already had quite a bit in common. I was a bit apprehensive that I might not be able to help her achieve her goals as much as I wanted to.
I had thought of a few ice breaker questions and exercises in order to get the conversation flowing but we didn’t end up using them! We hit it off straight away and had lots to talk about, including the fact that we are both pregnant; that was a great ice breaker.
Zhaneta is such an open, generous and warm person. The conversation flowed and was relaxed. We were both smiling a lot! I felt inspired and energised by Zhaneta and our session, and was already looking forward to the next one.
In our sessions we are working on confidence building, English language; mainly feeling more confident speaking in public to larger groups, and positive thinking and mindset. We are also working on positive thinking around birth. They all seem to tie in well together.
We are using positive affirmations and journaling as a tool to feel more confident. Zhaneta is preparing in between our sessions and practising her English with me; talking about topics she is passionate and has experience in, that she then shares in a training session she attends every week for the charity she volunteers with. She has a great way of expressing herself and I remind her that it doesn’t matter if her grammar isn’t always perfect; what she has to say is important and her experience and passion comes across clearly.
We have focused on positive statements that she can tell herself when she feels nervous and we’ve also have done some work on breathing and posture in order to feel less nervous and more confident.
I am also learning a lot from Zhaneta in regards to being a first time Mum, pregnancy and labour. Zhaneta is very passionate about supporting other pregnant women who have been in a similar situation to her. She is already volunteering for [a charity supporting mums] and we have been discussing and looking at other options and courses for her to learn more skills and get more experience.
I often think it would be really nice to meet face to face, rather than on Zoom, but we are making the most of the different situation. In a way it works well for both of us. We both hope to meet up next year, with our babies, when it’s safe to do so!
There have been lots of highlights. I love sharing our pregnancy experiences and asking Zhaneta for advice and sharing what I am learning too. I like sharing and practising positive affirmations. I’ve enjoyed hearing Zhaneta share her personal strengths and seeing her realise that she has a lot! Her passion and determination inspires me and watching her confidence building in each session.
I have done quite a bit of volunteering but Routes really stands out due to the training and support we are given as mentors. Mentors share ideas and advice which is great. There is also a clear set of boundaries around what our role entails.
I am hoping the mentoring experience with Routes will help me to find work in the charity sector in the future. This is something I have thought about exploring, more recently. I feel even more passionate about helping women and refugee and asylum seekers after my mentoring experience with Zhaneta and seeing the difference mentoring can make to the mentor and mentee.
Many refugees and asylum seekers feel isolated here; without family or many friends or support and in a new country. This time has been even more isolating and hard for many people and I feel it’s more important than ever to connect with people and to be kind. I know that having a conversation with someone who champions you and makes you feel seen and supported can really help. Thinking and talking about the future positively and having future goals is also really important, and I think mentoring really helps with this.
