INDIA
MISSION & GLOBAL VISION
MISSION:
Every child in India has access to a mentor circle AND every child is a mentor. On a macro-level we aspire to create vibrant communities where men and women show up for boys and girls, fulfilling their natural role as mentors. We provide youth mentoring programs for boys and girls, age 9 through 17 plus the respective mentor enhancement programs for adults under the premise: every boy and every girl on this planet deserves to have a mentor and is required to be a mentor.
GLOBAL VISION:
Mentoring is established in all countries around the planet as an integral part of the educational system. Mentoring is reintroduced and culturally integrated as a societal practice.
PEER MENTORING TRAININGS
GenDerations programs are designed to address many of the major problems that trouble modern societies around the world by applying the art of mentoring. Broadly speaking, GenDerations’ programs empower men and women, girls and boys, to achieve a deeper understanding of themselves and their role as members of society. Especially in a world where scientists predict that 70% of those employed in the year 2050 will do jobs which are not even invented yet, our future depends on broadening our vision of education.
“My experience with the GenDerations program was full of new learnings. I feel that emotional literacy is going to be the most important skill for the future (and present), and Stefan is among the best teachers in the field!”
-Urmila Samson
mother of 3 children,
organizer of the Principal’s roundtable and volunteer with GenDerations Mentoring on 2 pilot programs in Pune, India
Multi-national corporations have reflected for years that because of the lack of emotional literacy, higher management positions are often out of reach for people from Asia; this syndrome is often referred to as the “bamboo ceiling”. For any entrepreneurial endeavors emotional awareness is equally important.
OFFERS
Internationally acknowledged certificates of community service hours in a field of emotional maturing and inner stability.
4 year curriculum of fostering emotional intelligence.
Evaluations from Switzerland and the US stating the benefits for mentors and mentees alike.
Scientific evaluations in the US and Switzerland confirm: GenDerations’ programs successfully bridge generational and gender differences while building of values around community, communication and collaboration.
GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Link youth to a community-based group mentoring program. Inspire youth to make constructive life choices through positive adult role- modeling and positive peer associations.
Build the self-esteem, self-awareness, and personal accountability of the participants.
Improve overall student scholastic, personal and relationships performance.
We intend participation in this program to help youth develop their general social skills, improve their ability and willingness to work with peers, enhance their self- esteem, improve their ability to manage anger and conflict, improve academic performance, lower their frequency of absenteeism, and demonstrate an understanding of accountability and consequences for their personal decisions.
YOUTH-RELATED PROGRAMS
Parent Introduction Workshop:
Shows parents in an experimental way the value of the GenDerations work and encourages them to have their child participate. The workshop will provide information on the relevance of the program and the benefits in a highly competitive educational environment.
Peer Mentor Training:
Prepares senior students for group mentoring sessions with junior students. A certificate of participation is granted upon completion of the training. The nature of the training is interactive, experiential, physical, engaging, informative, empowering, reflective and fun.
Group Mentoring (Truth-Telling circles):
Creating circles of trained adult mentors, peer mentors and junior students to offer support for successes, challenges, and questions about life.
The Owl Weekend:
Packed with fun, games, adventure, mystery, and stories “the Owl” thrills youth to engage in self-reflection and being appreciated for speaking “my truth” and “just being me”. Through a series of exciting and challenging processes, boys and girls learn for themselves lessons that will serve them for a lifetime. Whether a kid is confident on his/her path or struggling, (s)he will find the GenDerations approach opens new opportunities.
For 7-12 year olds:
The "Owl Weekend" is for the age range of 6th graders. At the threshold of these children entering into their teenage years this weekend offers a unique opportunity of bonding and sharing along with meaningful play. The program has been conducted in South Africa and Ticino/Europe (see pictures along with moving testimonials on those pages of this web site) Mothers and fathers as well as their children expressed amazement about the depth of relationships which they were able to build for themselves and witness in others.
ABOUT PEER MENTORING TRAINING
Peer education enables youth to effectively deal with problems that affect them. Through self-reflective as well as cooperative activities taking place in a safe and inclusive environment, youngsters feel valued for who they really are. Our scientifically evaluated, proven and internationally acclaimed model is based on group mentoring rather than one-on-one activities: “the art of being the village, … again!”
Where will our youth learn to become healthy mature men and women? The developmental status of youth in the Western World is alarming: over 40% are raised by single mothers, staggering numbers of suicides with 5 times as many teenage boys committing suicide compared to girls, and 1 out of 3 students experiencing physical and/or emotional violence at school before graduating from High School. Urban India unfortunately is following in the footsteps of the West. There are many indicators that young boys and girls grow up in a state of unprecedented crisis on all socio-economic levels...and it’s only getting worse.
GenDerations Mentoring Intl provides mentoring services to youth 9-17 years of age in two distinct groups. As an expansion to what was BoysToMen for 18 years, GenDerations has been successfully established in the US, South Africa and parts of Europe. In 2015 we launched the program in India by employing a peer-to-peer approach, involving 15-17 year old girls and boys as support and guidance for 9-12 year olds. The older ones getting trained to become the mentors will be challenged throughout a weekend of highly interactive, hands-on, and experiential activities to fostering awareness and maturity.
Peer education enables youth to effectively deal with problems that affect them. Through self-reflective as well as cooperative activities taking place in a safe and inclusive environment, youngsters feel valued for who they really are. They act as role models and peer mentors to younger kids; “role models” are not to be misunderstood as young people who think they are perfect; the kids are waiting to meet real people with real life challenges, willing to share those, where appropriate.
Our proven and internationally acclaimed model is based on group mentoring rather than one-on-one activities:
The art of being the village, … again!
Success Stories
Testimonials by graduates of GenDerations peer mentor training weekend at DPS RK Puram:
