This year I decided to sign up for a newly launched program at UniSA, AIME Mentoring. The purpose of this program is to assist young Indigenous people with aspirations to go to to uni by instilling in them the self-belief and confidence to make it possible. Previously, it had only been run on the east coast, but slowly it is spreading out across Australia. It is a mentoring program, so each mentor is matched up with a young mentee who they are able to work and establish a relationship with for the entire year. As a member of the core program, I have been able to spend an hour every week with my mentee and have completed such weekly tasks as writing and performing a hip hop song and acting out our very own play! These are the sorts of activities that would usually petrify me, so not only am I incredibly proud of my mentee, but proud of myself for trying new things and gaining confidence. It has been wonderful working with the kids (Years 9 and 10) from a variety of schools. Even though sometimes I find out what the weekly tasks will be and fret that my mentee will refuse to participate and want to drop out of the program, she continues to turn up week after week and push herself past her limits. Not only is this program all about "getting kids to uni", but I think it is a really important way of interacting with people of Indigenous heritage and doing our best to greater appreciate their culture, traditions and stories. I would encourage as many people as possible to join the program next year as it can only grow!
[image source Karma Currency Foundation]
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