ROSES:
Learning from Hmong traditions to develop character,
preserve culture and achieve academic excellence
A Look Back at Becoming a Mentor
A Community Project
by the Association for Human Advancement and Development (AHAD)
“Be thou a teacher of love, in a school of unity.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in “Bahá’í Education”,
p. 24, no. 64
Core Virtues
Some of the virtues which are at the core of the mentoring program are prominently displayed, reminding both mentors and mentees (students) what is important.
A Third Grader
A third grader is intent upon following the guidance of his mentor in studying the virtue of truthfulness. He looks at the list of true and not true statements in the lesson and giggles: “Money grows on trees. The Hmong word for story cloth is paj ntaub.”
A Third Grader
The sure hands of a mentor lead a student to find truthful statements.
Teams
Mentees and mentors work as teams, consulting about the meaning of truthfulness. A new mentee waits patiently to open an envelope of many pictures and to cooperate with his group in creating a collage of pictures showing truthfulness.
Dedicated Mentor
A dedicated mentor from a local high school finds creative ways for supporting a mentee as they seriously consider the meaning of truthfulness.
Photos
ROSES mentees enjoy the photos of the Summer ROSES Program 2004, showing Sam Gioia, instructor for Global Portland/Hmong Children, students from Portland State University. These friends came and helped the ROSES participants to weave Hmong lunch baskets and create Hmong embroidery. Authentic Hmong teachers demonstrated the arts, speaking in Hmong with Hmong music in the background.
Many Books
There is always a welcome display of books from the Multnomah County Library. Also, the ROSES Project is actively building a reserve library that reflects the Hmong culture and contributes to development of virtues. The Whispering Cloth tells of a little Hmong girl and the refugee camp in Thailand; the book is on our wish list. Also on that list are books written in both Hmong and English to enable students to become literate in the Hmong language.
Learning to Read
By third grade, mentees are reading to learn. Here a mentee takes on more challenging reading as she likes the poetry found in Where the Sidewalk Ends.
Substitutes
Occasionally, mentors must miss a session because of work schedules or other reasons, and trained substitutes volunteer to help the mentees. In step with the development of virtues, this second grader shows respect and listens to the substitute.
Homework
Mentees complete homework assignments from their teachers or are provided with appropriate skill-building sheets at the sessions.
Joy
Joyfulness is a universal virtue which ROSES mentees love to express, especially to visitors and to the photographer.
Together
Mentors join their mentees in everything.
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page)
(Link to ROSES home page)