The responsibilities outlined here are good and quite workable - with adequate capacities. I think they will help ground the project at community level. Permit me to register my interest in doing something on the Nigeria side. This will add greatly to our mentoring programme in Prime Initiative.

Greetings to all the UG Butterflies.

Right, then - these kids need mentors! Here is a small thumbnail sketch of each of the selections from Lyantonde (from my perspective):

Francis - he is 14 and very bright, but with a few gaps in his knowledge (What are dinosaurs?). He is adept at people skills and motivation and, while lacking in confidence right now, he is going to be a leader that people like to follow. Francis has been on the thread before, so you'll be pleased to see he made it through.

Recheal (Rachel?) - she is a very mature 11 and probably scored strongest over all of the tests. She is a very stable personality and is the kind of person you go to for good advice. I'm sure she is leadership material, but she stood back to let the older kids show their potential in that particular test. She maybe needs some coaxing into social entrepreneurship, but she had some great ideas as to how to achieve change.

Stellah - she is a quiet 13, who preferred to stay out of the limelight, but she performed well in many of the tests we did and showed herself to be ethical and could take a leadership role, when it was uncontested. She'll need someone to bring her out of her shell, but I feel that once out, she will bring a very valuable contribution to the group.

Manisuli - he is 12 and quiet but charismatic unassuming leadership material. He has no problem asking questions (to his credit) and we found him taking to the computer faster than anyone else, soon becoming the group expert on ICT, without dominating the computer's use. He seems very bright too - correcting Francis' spelling on quite a few occasions. He's self confident, but never arrogant.

Dorah - she will be 11 very shortly and was sent by her school as she is clearly highly intelligent. Because of her age she lacked a bit of confidence in the group, but was gradually finding her feet by the end of the weekend. We expect great things of her in the future, but she needs more stimulation and tougher challenges to her intellect than she is currently getting, in my opinion.

Joshua - he is a 13 year old intellectual type, who has not been given the chance to be an intellectual yet. He's popular, but very quiet and seems to draw his confidence from somewhere, when he gets up on stage. If we can help him find it, Joshua will find an expert niche, which I think can be used to create social change in the future - perhaps in agricultural development, seeds, processing or something else technical. Or I could be wrong entirely!

I'd like to mentor Francis myself, since I know him far better than the others (and vice versa), but please feel free to volunteer to take on any of the remainder. We'll connect you up as soon as we can...

If you want any more information, then I believe that Lauben will be profiling them in a little more detail soon.

Fine way to get the ball rolling. Please tell Joshua that someone in Nigeria has taken an interest in him. Please send me additional details about him. Being a virtual mentor is something of a new experience for myself but... who knows.

David Bale has asked me what I feel would be the qualities required for a mentor and I will try to give my personal view.

Elaine Hook is my expert on this and she is going to mentor one of the young people we choose, possibly more, but I will do my best to give my thoughts on the subject.

One thing that has become clear is that almost all children are suffering from a bereavement of some kind. They try hard to close their mind to it, but they likely still grieve. Most in the rural areas are working real jobs too, on which the family livelihood could depend. Many in the urban areas are constantly at risk of illness, either malaria or diarrhoea. Both groups are short of food, generally. Some live in very unsafe surroundings. I think amentor needs to understand this existence, as it brings a level of stress, which we are not familiar with.

The children are generally viewed as "minions", ready to do any adult's bidding and they will rarely if ever disobey. This does put them in a frame of mind, which is "following" rather than "leading" and I think the mentor needs to help address this by giving advice on how best the child can devise its own future and determine it. A mentor thus needs to be a good listener, but temper his or her advice with an attempt to understand the circumstances that the child is in and the culture of "valuelessness". A mentor needs therefore to be able to boost the confidence of the children sensitively, whilst not transforming them into non-compliant monsters.

I'm looking for mentors who have a good grasp of world affairs and an enthusiasm for change, as it is these traits and knowledges that I wish to be transferred. Knowledge of social enterprise is also a given. I have told the participants that the mentor will be able to assist them find "best" practice is solving social problems, that they wish to address.

I need also people who believe strongly in equality. I don't want male/fermale stereotypes reinforced. I don't want religious bias, nor homophobic attitudes, nor any advice given, which is subject to different opinions, without those alternative opinions being given. Information and advice given should thus be balanced and mentors need to be aware of their role as provider of information, not the development of a protege clone of oneself!

The mentor needs, however, to stimulate interests in areas where the Butterfly has no or little knowledge. A recent conversation indicated that a possible Butterfly had never been recommended a book to read and I would expect the mentor to remedy this. Each will likely be receiving a USB drive (flash) which they can use to receive files, maybe even books, but I would hope that the Uganda Project will start to develop a library of interesting books. This may deserve a thread on its own (like the film one), but for now, we will take what we can acquire, as books seem to be like gold dust here, unless they are scholastic.

Each of the above six are very different personalities and thus will need different handling. We will endeavour, once you are officially allocated to a young person, to provide you with as much information about them as possible and their character traits. However, you will need to establish some elements of their personality through the more difficult email process and be able to adapt your strategy for mentoring to the individual, so flexibility is key.

I wonder whether Elaine Hook (or Dan Bassill) might be able to give us some more professional advice on this before we start properly and, in this situation, I think such information we might be able to glean, would be provided to mentors, as part of their official taking on the responsibility.

So - thanks to Abdiel for starting things moving. We will carry out this weekend's assessments and then put up the other 6 members and then we will start this official allocation.

I will respond to David's question personally. Did I miss anything out?

Ben, I would be interested in mentoring one of the girls. Considering that you don't want "sexism",I will still defend women mentoring the women, if for no other reason than that they need to see women who have been professionally successful. (I know, I know. There are many who would argue whether I have been successful!)

Linda Nowakowski said:

Ben, I would be interested in mentoring one of the girls. Considering that you don't want "sexism",I will still defend women mentoring the women, if for no other reason than that they need to see women who have been professionally successful. (I know, I know. There are many who would argue whether I have been successful!)

I think we need to do what is best. We may teach equality, but we also understand that some boys need male role models and African girls certainly need female role models and, perfectly reasonably, would respond more favourably to a female mentor.

Interestingly, the girls hardly left their rooms in their free time, never venturing forth, lest they be told off. The boys, on the other hand, were clustered around the computer (and me) like bees to a hive. Even when encouraged, Dorah seemed uncomfortable sitting at the computer and made an exit, at the earliest opportunity.

Perhaps others can advise on their view of why the girls generally lack confidence in adult company?

You make a good point Ben. The different ways in which girls and boys are brought up (the various activities they engage in can be quite revealing) enforces on each child's mind. Why is it that boys never seem to have enough work to do and allowed to play around with their friends, as young boys, while girls have loads of it, especially around the house? Stereotyping ectually begins from childhood and many African parents do not "socialise" with children not to talk of giving "girls" quality attention. It is thus not surprising that African girls tend to lack confidence early on and their self esteem is really not a bother most of the times. Most times, only educated parents (or those sensitive to childhood exeriences and desiring their children to have better lives, go out of their way to ensure that.

I live in a rural community and the above is just a snippet of life for the African child (my views, please).

Well I would also add, that I would have no objection to a man wishing to mentor one of the girls, if he felt that he was able to do it, perhaps because he had many daughters of his own:) Girls don't all fit into this stereotype too, especially those who have developed a few talents to bring them confidence.

To confirm also that Elaine has advised me that she will be providing a detailed mentoring brief to all who are participating, focused around how to mentor gifted children.

I am still evaluating the results for Kampala and will publish those selected tomorrow.

:-) I must admit the idea of being a mentor scares me.

Ben your thumbnail sketches are very sensitive. They really provide a sense of the kids. So I was looking with an eye to who among them I might best fit. That's when my knees began to shake. It probably is just as well to be a bit apprehensive. It's clear I don't have all the answers, just a willingness to explore life together with a young person.

The profile of Joshua reminded me of my younger brother Bill. Bill was always smarter than me. He's about four years younger than me and so I noticed right away that he learned faster than me; things like memorizing all the capital cities of the states in minutes. I also came to see that his thought processes were different than mine.

Anyhow it wasn't until I lived with him a short time as an adult that I understood our temperaments are different too. He's a strong introvert on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, I'm a weak extrovert.

Here's my point: Obviously everybody has their own personality. I'll always strive to take people on their own terms. Joshua stood out because I was reading into his profile a certain kind of personality. Most people are extroverts on the MBTI. My hunch is an introvert would notice what I'm noticing about Joshua. And I think there may be some benefit if a fellow introvert comes along to connect with him.

LOL, in a PM you thought I would connect with one of the kids, am I right in my guess it was Joshua?

Take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. I'm happy to try with any of them. I just wanted to note that Joshua's personality may really connect with someone else and I don't want to stand in the way of that.

Ok, well we have selected five from the Kampala group. The 6th (girl) spot has been reserved for a decision over the Summer, either to find someone new or to have confirmed our support for one of the younger girls in this group. We have found the testing process favouring the older ones and I felt the two younger girls weren't given enough opportunity to shine. They will be re-interviewed now.

Eunice - it will be a privilege for you to know Eunice (13). She is a talented artist and composer and has a desire to use music to create an NGO in Kisenyi to support young people living there. She is thoughtful, intelligent and knowledgeable and quite confident. What she does need is support, as her personal circumstances are difficult.

Philip - he is a 12 year old unlike I have met before. He has exceptional people skills and a kind of incisive leadership quality from someone much older. He is very determined and acts tough, but I feel that he is very warm-hearted and has very high aspirations for himself and the programme. It's a shame you can't meet him through this page, as I can't really do him justice.

Debra - she is 16 (yes I know) and from the Kireka Acholi Quarter. She is stubborn, but is someone reliable but inspirational too. She is both a thinker and a doer and these are important qualities for the future. What she does need is some inspiration from a professional woman:)

Ivan - he is 15 and is a boarder in one of the most disadvantaged Kisenyi schools. From a very poor family he aspires to be their breadwinner, in the absence of another, shouldering this burden focusing on his education. He is interested in Shakespeare and very informed on social issues. To me he will be the group's stabilising influence, but will need support through his issues at home.

Gilbert - he is 12 and you will unlikely meet anyone nicer. He enjoys dance and ballet and is part of a dance academy in Kivulo, a disadvantaged area near Makerere University. I didn't spend too much time with him, but he varied talents and a kind of confidence gained from spending a lot of time on stage. I think he is someone that would need a special mentor, who will stick with him for some while.

This weekend I am going to ask them about what sort of mentor they would like, so I will post their answers and then we will allocate.

Hi Ben,

Thanks for writing and telling me about progress with this project. Your blog is quite informative. I can't be a mentor to one of the kids, but can mentor you and the project, as I do many others.

Here are a few links that you might find useful for on-going learning

1. ementoring links - http://www.tutormentorconnection .org/LinksLearningNetwork/LinksL ibrary/tabid/560/rrcid/11/rrscid /61/rrpid/1/rrepp/20/Default.asp x
2. Africa group on T/MC Ning - I've been contacted by others and encourage you to introduce yourself on the Ning page, and invite them to join you here. http://tutormentorconnection.nin g.com/group/africatutormentorcon nection

c)Resource links - this flash animation provides a guide to all of the various resources on the Tutor/Mentor Connection site. This is not information you can grasp in a day, but if you draw from it over the life of your organization, you'll find many ideas that you and your volunteers, kids and supporters can use. http://www.tutormentorexchange.n et//images/flash/resourcesmap.sw f

4. Cabrini Connections - this is the program I lead in Chicago. If you browse the sections and look at the weekly newsletter, you'll see that you might follow what we do each week, and borrow some ideas to apply where you are. http://www.cabriniconnections.ne t
5. http://tutormentor.blogspot.com blog - this is where I advocate for greater, and more consistent donor support of tutor/mentor programs. Add your voice as you begin to get frustrated of doing great work, but getting little funding. Together we might attract new benefactors who support you because of the stories and pictures on your blog and web site.

Ben, as has been the case in the past, your work inspires me.

Unfortunately, I feel unable at the moment to put in the time on-line that would be necessary to make a serious effort at mentoring one of the kids.

(I'm a rank amateur, so this may be naive to ask -- is it possible to have a team of adults mentoring an individual child? Just musing.)

Is there perhaps some other way I might help support your efforts, being someone who has perhaps only 5-10 minutes a day to spend at the present time?

I've had another weekend with the Lyantonde and Kampala Butterflies. It was interesting and has thrown up a few more dilemmas, which I shall come to at some point.

The Kampala Butterflies have given me feedback on the mentor that they would want and so I am now in a position to put mentor and Butterfly together for the Kampala group. Expect an email from me soon.

I will also deal with the Lyantonde group straight after, although we still have some issues to resolve over internet with them.

Re- Jon's comment - we will have one mentor for each Butterfly.

One mentor for each Butterfly is good. However, please note that a situation might arise where a couple may wish to mentor just one Butterfly...

Things seem to be quite on track though.

Ben Parkinson said:

David Bale has asked me what I feel would be the qualities required for a mentor and I will try to give my personal view.

I think you give a good overview of the intellectual and social skills required of a mentor but I wonder if you have any idea of the practical commitment required? I understand that you hope the project would run for 3 to 5 years but do you have an estimate of the day-to-day time commitment? For instance :

• E-mail contact every day, more than once a day?
• On-line activities at specified times?
• Joint research or projects?

Nicholas - thanks for your contribution to the thread.

In response to your concerns, I think it is highly unlikely that there will be daily email contact, especially for the rural group. There simply isn't a way to give them internet access in their villages, without substantial (and unjustified) expense. I am toying with the idea of utilising an XO laptop as a way to relay emails, using its mesh network, but there is a little to do to research this. I have three of these, so they could be used for the three living in remote areas.

For the Kampala group, I have asked Philip to liaise with his school, who do have a "staff only" internet computer, to see if we could allocate another account on the premises for pupils. Without this, in term time, Philip will be restricted to weekly, perhaps fortnightly. I have asked Eunice to liaise with her youth club, who have some restricted internet access. Debra could have more regular internet access at Life in Africa. Both Gilbert and Ivan will likely be using internet cafes sporadically.

None are very computer-literate as yet, which will mean things will start slowly.

On-line activities at specified times need not include the mentor. I am aware of various Skype chats that occur, discussing social issues and I think it would be useful for Butterflies to observe and perhaps participate. A mentor might point them to such activities.

With regard to "joint research or projects", one would imagine that, where a mentor has a personal interest in a particular field, then there is some feasibility of some joint involvement. I'm certain mentors could manage their time in such projects, were they to occur. There is no insistence on such joint activity, but I do feel it would likely be of benefit to mentor and mentee to participate in such activity.

At the moment we are committing to 12 months on the project. Were we to be able to continue the project for longer, I don't see a necessity for a mentor to remain with the same young person. In fact there may be some benefit for a kind of rotation. There are few enough Butterflies for mentors to be aware of each and, whilst maintaining confidentiality, there will likely be some discussion between mentors on their mentees. Having said that, I would doubt that there would be an enforced change of mentor, without a specific request from the Butterfly member.

During school holidays, there could be more of a burden of time on the mentor, but we would need to manage this via the local coordinator (or myself), who could perhaps field some of the email topics, to reduce the time pressure on mentor.

Thanks Ben -- understood.

Ben Parkinson said:

...

Re- Jon's comment - we will have one mentor for each Butterfly.

Ok, for the Kampala group we are going to give them 30 free hours per month at the cyber cafe for starters and will reduce/increase this, as appropriate. For now Eunice, Ivan, Debra and Gilbert will have access and I spoke to Eunice about it tonight.

They all seem very excited about the prospect. I hope we can facilitate this by the end of this week.

Lauben has sent me some "wishes" from the rural Lyantonde group. As far as I know, this is a unique offering, so I thought I would share it with you. The Kampala group are similarly inspired, although their issues are slightly different.

Anyhow, here goes (no editing done on any of these)...

FRANCIS

 I wish to teach people how to improve their farming skills so that they can get what to eat and sell to earn some income to fully support their families like taking children to school.

 I wish to build facilities that can help the people in my home area for example schools , hospitals, latrines for the most vulnerable people, markets and other facilities that can improve the lively hood of the rural people in my area.

 I wish to be a good a member in the community, who can live by example to the young people in areas like leadership, development and in the political areas.

 I wish to concentrate on learning how to use and apply computer knowledge. This may include learning how to use the internet. As this will help me access many people who seem important to me like the butterfly project officials, friends from all over the world and get to know more about the world.

MANISULI

 Providing help to less privileged people for example those in Kinuuka village. The assistance may include provision of safe water, food, house hold requirements and constructing for them houses and latrines.

 Helping the orphans get access to school, scholastic materials and other necessities that can help them gain the minimum standards of education.

 Improving the games of the pupils at school for example foot ball, volley ball and other games so as the children enough playing opportunities.

RACHEL

 First of all I want to get involved in the project activities as they are shown in their Programme. I am ready to participate in all activities set by the project.

 Secondly I wish to get more friends in this project with which we can share ideas.

 Also to get exposed to out side countries as I hope to get chances of visiting some countries outside Uganda. This will help me to know how other countries differ from Uganda in areas like relief, climate, physical features, language and the nature of people in those countries.

 More to that; I wish to acquire more skills which can help me to live happily in this world; I want to get this by copying from some of the leaders in the butterfly project.

 More to that to learn more technology as I hope to learn how to operate a computer as it is the system commonly used by educated people these days.

 Through the butterfly project I wish to develop my talents as I expect to be provided with some musical instruments and novels at the same time be taught how to use them.

 Also I wish to develop my capabilities in communication skills and other life skills. This will help me deal in a global world that is competitive.

JOSHUA

 The ability to obtain basic education that can help me when dealing with the people around me.

 Assistance to attain a good health environment that can help me achieve the goal to helping the magnified people around me.

 A chance to have access to my own computer such that I can get the skills to communicate to the people.

STELLA

 I would like to obtain computer skills and applicability.

 I would like to get access to internet for easy communication with the people around me most especially those I the butterfly project.

 I wish to learn how to solve social problems in my area.

 I wish to get help in opening up new projects in my area for example a water project to solve the problem of water shortage.

 I wish to find means of getting electricity to help my area because we don’t have access to power.

DORA

 I would like to have access to a computer and the internet. This will help me do my work properly and have a better means of communication with the people who help me for example my mentor and the coordinator butterfly project.

 I would like to tour some new places so as to understand other places their structure and appearance and as well understand their livelihoods.

I found their goals inspiring and I feel they are setting themselves quite a challenge. It is a shame they don't have good access to the Internet so that they could present their thoughts and ideas directly. If you have a chance you should pass on our encouragement and best wishes.

Joshua said he wound like the chance to have his own computer. Is that feasible?

Ben,

Thank you for the effort you make in trying to give us graphic details of the thoughts and personalities of these young persons.

This makes me think that a team of analyists would have a heavy task on their hands when they analyse the interactions with the UG Butterflies after, say, three months. Rollercoaster ride coming?

Nicholas Bentley said:

I found their goals inspiring and I feel they are setting themselves quite a challenge. It is a shame they don't have good access to the Internet so that they could present their thoughts and ideas directly. If you have a chance you should pass on our encouragement and best wishes.

Joshua said he wound like the chance to have his own computer. Is that feasible?

Thanks - I will pass on your encouragement.

The best I can offer Joshua at the moment is an XO laptop. I have three of these, but we are evaluating whether they would be useful for their mesh network abilities for emailing from those more remote, such as Dora, Francis and Stella. Also, while they are power frugal, the machines do need recharging, perhaps every few days of 2-3 hours use and we need to assess power availability.

Abdiel Kude said:

Ben,

Thank you for the effort you make in trying to give us graphic details of the thoughts and personalities of these young persons.

This makes me think that a team of analyists would have a heavy task on their hands when they analyse the interactions with the UG Butterflies after, say, three months. Rollercoaster ride coming?

I must admit, they have surprised me with these personal visions. Whilst we have chosen these 6 for their more altruistic thinking, I am impressed how quickly they have grasped the project concept. During the induction many stayed up most of the night to write up their thoughts in the books we gave to them, so there is plenty of passion there too...

Sounds like you've got an impressive group of young folk there, Ben.