Mentoring can change a local child's life for the better
"One ship sails East,
And another West,
By the self-same winds that blow,
'Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales,
That tells the way we go."
-- Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1855-1919), U.S. poet, journalist
When our own Brad Van Liew departed South Africa for New Zealand last month, the "self-same wind" blew the other three sailors' ships along with his. The set of his sail and many other factors brought him into Wellington's safe harbor first this month. Bravo, for Brad Van Liew!
I am a mentor. I pass along my 52 years of experience to sixth grader Robert over lunch and recess one midday per week. The organization Be A Mentor arranged the relationship. The responsibility is a weighty one. We make it fun.
We all have free will and are responsible for the choices we make. Therefore, it's vital to develop an inner compass, which will guide our own ship's course. To set the right course early on eliminates gross destination errors later.
Part of my mission as a mentor, is to impart upon Robert a love for learning and the education system. He can do little to change his formal education process now, but he can learn to behave well, read well, study and excel.
Robert's ship is, admittedly, beset with barnacles below the waterline and leaking caulk in his planks.
These disadvantages he was born into. But, he can see through me that education is America's great equalizer.
It's his ticket out of the socioeconomic cycle he's in. No one expressed this better than mentor John Moniz did to his employee Tim Scott, now our South Carolina 1st District U.S. congressman.
To quote Scott: "As a freshman in high school I was flunking out. I failed world geography, civics, Spanish and English. And when you fail Spanish and English, they do not consider you bilingual. They may call you bi-ignorant because you can't speak any language. And that's where I found myself. But I had a mentor. John Moniz came along at the right time. "A Chick-Fil-A operator, a Christian and a solid conservative.
"And he started teaching me that you could actually think your way out of poverty. You didn't have to entertain your way out of poverty; you didn't have to play professional football.
But as a small business owner you could think your way out of poverty. And it was an amazing lesson for a 15-year-old."
Knowledge has the power to build confidence. A mind prepared to address challenges, which life produces continually, helps overcome obstacles.
Education prepares one to handle failure, to bounce back from its debilitating effects.
Be A Mentor (BAM) was founded in 2004 and has since recruited over 1,000 mentors for Charleston's leading mentoring organizations, ensuring that every child with an unfulfilled promise has a caring adult in his or her life.
BAM also seeks to serve particularly at-risk populations of Charleston's youth. Eyes of the Child is a partnership with the Charleston County Department of Social Services to ensure that foster and at-risk youth are mentored. In partnership with Clemson University's Institute on Family and Neighborhood life, Building Dreams focuses on mentoring children with relatives who are incarcerated.
The statistics are convincing. A recent study showed that children who are mentored are:
--46 percent less likely to use illegal drugs.
--27 percent less likely to use alcohol at an early age.
--53 percent less likely to skip school.
--33 percent less likely to engage in gang violence.
--21 percent more likely to finish high schoo1.
--12 percent more likely to attend college.
Back to Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
"Like the winds of the sea
Are the waves of time,
As we journey along through life,
'Tis the set of the soul,
That determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife."
Call 554-5987 or e-mail info@BeAMentorNow.org to become a lifeline for an at-risk child. Our Charleston area community will be stronger for it.
And sail on swiftly, Brad Van Liew!
FREDERICK J. WHITTLE
Chief Operating Officer
Jupiter Holdings, LLC
Ashley Pointe Drive
Charleston
