Mentor Joana and mentee Nanou joined Routes for our 11th Mentoring Programme, starting in autumn 2023. Joana Murta Rosa is a Programmes and Operations Manager at the UK’s innovation agency Nesta. She joined the Routes Mentoring Programme, hoping to learn more about guiding another person towards their goals, and building her leadership skills. She was paired with mentee Nanou, who wanted to work on her public speaking skills and her next steps in the UK.
Mentor Joana and mentee Nanou write together about their experience on the Routes Mentoring Programme, and what they learned along the way.
In October 2023, we Mentee and Mentor embarked on this mentoring journey of self-development, learning, of empowerment, of skills and knowledge transfer, building confidence and resilience. At the same time, we have also stepped into a beautiful journey together of friendship, respect, and human connection.
Nanou came in with the objective of improving public speaking skills – not her confidence because she’s actually powerful and natural when speaking in public, but practical advise on how to take it even to the next level; Joana joined the programme with the objective of feeling more comfortable in the shoes of a coach/mentor and to learn more about the asylum seekers context and reality.
The programme is an opportunity to learn about different topics, to build knowledge on a very important topic which is the system and conditions in which asylum seekers face and have to live in. It is also a platform helping women to leading difficult conversations, sharing expertise, and creating new paths for others to follow.
We learned that no one can get by in life on their own. I feel that as women, we can enrich our own life by helping others, and Routes mentoring programme helps us doing that.
When we started our journey, we were not sure how it was going to be beneficial for both of us. So we find it really empowering at the end of each session because when two women are bringing their ideas and thoughts together without an agenda, it can be very powerful.
Photo: Nanou (top left) and other mentees at the Routes Public Speaking workshop. Public speaking was also the main focus of Nanou and Joana as they worked together as a mentoring pair.
We both agreed that objectives were met! We even exceeded them, we empowered and encouraged each other along the journey, even more because we are both women and the bond and experiences you go through are more similar than what one initially thinks - the context for building trust was there from the onset.
We’ve listened to each other whilst creating the space for sometimes going completely off topic – including doing some online joint mediation (with the wrong music which allowed for a good laugh).
We believe that the best investment that anyone can make in themselves is learning! Particularly for women, becoming independent opens so many opportunities to explore full potential and take better control of one’s life. Taking small steps towards learning and reaching our goals can go a long way.
Our 4-month journey together was a step close for each of us to be closer to our long-term objectives and many steps towards creating a new friendship and support network. This Programme is more than a mentoring programme, it is a human journey celebrating women!
When human beings have the determination to work hard, there’s nothing they can’t achieve, regardless of their gender - they just need to find their own path. Sometimes we need a little push to step out of our comfort zone and explore what we want to do, and to understand how to work towards a goal. Alongside it, one also neds to be patient, gentle with oneself and learn from own mistakes. No matter how challenging of a situation one is going through, seek support and try to keep going. Everyone who is successful today has been through hardship. Don’t give up. Just keep going.
To new mentors and mentees we say: ‘We are rooting for you and hope that new cohorts of mentors and mentees can find this journey as fun, beautiful and enriching as we did!’
