You may not know we are Partners in Education with the Fort Smith School District. We are honored to be partners with Chaffin Junior High School. We have been at it for almost 4 years now. The mentoring programs are near and dear to our hearts. Many of us here at HRBG have been or currently are mentors. There are boys and girls mentoring programs at Chaffin. We are so proud of this program. It’s really amazing to connect with a youth who may not have anyone else in their life giving them guidance, advice & direction. For me, I will be sad to see my girl leave Chaffin and go on to Southside this fall. I’m really proud of her and I hope that she is proud of the time we have been able to share. I’ll miss her like crazy, and I hope I’m as lucky the second time around when I go this fall and have another girl under my wing. The honor is indescribable.
On to what I meant to post when I started writing today… 🙂
Today Alyssa, who is also a mentor, was our speaker. She did an amazing job telling us about her time in Africa and her personal passion, Fikisha. I’m sure it would mean a lot to her if you click the link and learn more about her organization. Fikisha is a non-profit organization dedicated to the street youth of the Nairobi slum.
Her goal today was to teach the girls they should be very thankful for what they have, and that changing the world is up to every individual. For our girls, American girls of 14 and 15 years old, it was a real eye opener to see how many people are living. We do have much to be thankful for. Beyond being thankful, we can do more. It is our responsibility to take personal action to ensure that the world is a better place. You will find something that moves you, some injustice that empassions you, and each one of us should act upon that which moves us. We should each be moved to change the world.
[fuh-kee-sha] v. (Swahili) to enable to reach
our [vision]
FIKISHA exists to inspire a cycle of love resulting in healthy communities. The FIKISHA staff and mentors walk alongside street youth befriending them and inviting them into the FIKISHA family. Through programs promoting character growth, educational opportunity and reconciled relationships, FIKISHA enables former outcasts to positively change the world.
[…] Yesterday was the Fort Smith Public School Partners in Education kick off conference. The other schools & partners got to learn more about the mentoring programs already in place in several schools & those of us who have mentored for a few years got to learn a lot of new things. We received training from Jamie & Anna from Boy with a Ball. Those guys know a lot about mentoring kids in the most helpful & effective ways possible. It was good to hear from them. On Wednesday we were invited to a pre-conference get together with the other current mentors. They fed us & we got to hang out and share ideas. The highlight for Alyssa was getting to meet & talk with Anna & Jamie. Her organization, Fikisha, has consulted with them for a while now & she was so excited to finally got to meet them in person. (here’ more about Alyssa’s organization and mentoring.) […]