Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Africa - Cape Town
Mission Statement
To make a difference one by one by enabling creative relationships between a caring role model and a child to be established through the process of friendship.
Executive Summary
The Big Brothers Big Sisters programme is a state of the art, one on one mentoring initiative with caring relationships being established between unrelated adults and youth. Mentoring has gained enormous respect and support which is not surprising There is nothing so heart warming, comprehensible and reassuring as an adult befriending and supporting a younger person. Mentoring also produces important results. In an era when society has little confidence in social interventions, mentoring can provide solid outcomes for adolescents regarding, substance abuse, violent behaviour, school performance and family relationships which is as equal in importance as its intuitive appeal.
Mentoring is an undiluted social intervention, by connecting two strangers of different age groups, supporting and monitoring their relationships through the Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Africa distilled-from-experience set of operational guidelines and clearly defined match procedures. Mentoring at Big Brothers Big Sisters is both a discrete program, and a broader idea: that individual change and progress is fundamentally about having other individuals care, support, tend to and guide on a one-to-one basis.
There is no substitute. Big Brothers Big Sisters International distinguishes itself from other mentoring programmes in that it has rigorous standards of programme implementation and programme management, which all Big Brothers Big Sisters International agencies have to be compliant with for the country’s programme to be accredited. By becoming involved in this exciting programme your time can influence a young person’s future. By showing children that you respect them enough to share your interests with them, you can help transform their lives. You can prove to them that they matter, that their futures matter and that their lives are too important to be wasted doing nothing. Get started today, and make a difference tomorrow.
Masego, a trained lay-counsellor, noticed that Nomsa, a 16-year-old girl, crying at church one morning. She took her aside and asked her what was bothering her. Nomsa disclosed that her father had recently passed away and her mother was critically ill at home. On further enquiry, Masego discovered that Nomsa was the eldest of four siblings and was primarily responsible for taking care of her family.
