Exploring Different Cultures

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Thu, 06/18/2009 - 10:54
Amy Cannata
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Joined: 04/14/2009

Many of our programs have the goal of exposing mentees to different cultures. My mentee and I recently spent the day learning about Japanese culture. First we went to the Japanese store in our city and looked at all the different types of food, pottery, clothing, and treats. We had a blast (literally) learning how to open our Ramune sodas and trying seaweed snacks.

Then we visited the Japanese Gardens. The koi pond was the best part. We used a buy-one-get- one-free coupon to save money on entrance fees. Remember to ask local attractions for discounted rates so your matches can explore without breaking the bank.

What other ways can we encourage our matches to explore different cultures?

__________________

~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy Cannata
Mentoring and National Service Initiatives, Education Northwest
Amy.Cannata@educationnorthwest.org * 503.275.9609

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Thu, 08/13/2009 - 14:13
#1
beighe-byrne
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Joined: 06/10/2009
Re: Exploring Different Cultures

Two Suggestions:
1) We recently made a partnership with a Business School who has an International Student Program. One of the requirements of this program is a service learning component, so some of our mentors will be coming to us directly from India, China, Japan, and Mexico. So, while this is not necessarily an activity, it IS exposing our youth to different cultures (and perspectives) on a weekly basis. Note: a lot of Universities have "International Student Associations/Clubs" where you can recruit mentors from as well).

2) Last year, one of our themes for March was "International Culture Month" so we arranged a couple of different things:
(1) We recruited people from the community and local universities who spoke a different language, such as Spanish, French, and Italian. These speakers did a small session (20 minutes) on counting, colors, and basic conversation phrases in that language. Then the matches made "Italian/French/Spanish" workbooks so that they could practice in future sessions. The matches loved it!
(2) We took the kids to the Pilsen/Little Village neighborhood (in Chicago) where the children had the opportunity to go on a neighborhood tour of the predominently Latino community. This tour ended at the Mexican Fine Arts Musuem.
(3) Lastly, we took another field trip to the University of IL-Extension where they had a cooking demonstration program. We asked the coordinators to show (and demonstrate for the matches) how they can incorporate different cultures into cooking. The matches then engaged in a food fest!

__________________

Christy Beighe-Byrne, M.A.
Director of Mentor and Volunteer Services
Chicago Youth Centers
773-268-3815, ext 33
christy.beighe-byrne@chicagoyouthcenters.org

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Tue, 09/29/2009 - 21:06
#2
hengsophiaxu
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Joined: 09/29/2009
Re: Exploring Different Cultures

International Mentoring is a big gap in a lot of the mentoring programs, including:
1) mentoring youth/children from a different culture ( could be still in home country/ planning to the US)-establish a mentoring relationship with them helps them make educated decision to come to study/pursue career in the US and they will be more confident to come, as well as being able to adjust to the culture better. This is a great way to promote the US culture and promote US education revenue as international students normally pay 3 times the rate of a local and the Asian parents will save up all their life to pay for children’s education. The more expensive, the better is the principle to a lot o them…but they need confidence in the decision and having a mentor guiding their children is definitely a plus to make it happen.

2) Mentoring for (non) immigrants. these group doesn't know how going to a different culture/country would change their beliefs, values, habits...and how to adjust themselves properly and quickly, that is why there are so many people not knowing how to socialize, network, find jobs in the US and have to go back to home country, and also some people develop serious mental diseases during the stay here due to pressure and self-doubt, referring to the Virginia Tech tragedy and a lot of similar cases over the years.

I believe these 2 groups deserve some good attention, and i am planning to take the initiative to develop a mentoring program ,with true concentration for those international crowd. That is why I am researching diverse mentoring resources and looking for partners, to help me, mentor me and empower me on this unique opportunity .

Sophia Xu

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