On mentoring and educating girls

Holiday over. I arrived back in Brum yesterday morning with 3 sleepy kids following a night flight. The tedium of the transatlantic flight was alleviated by watching some movies I have been meaning to watch: The life of Pi and Silver linings playbook. Both films spoke to me, as I am sure they did to most their viewers. I will not bore you with my personal reflections, but one thing I will not forget is the metaphor of the Bengal tiger that Pi most feared kept him alert and saved his life. He missed the Tiger in the end.
After a 60 minute  power nap post entering a freezing cold home, I then went to a local inner city Primary School where I have volunteered to be a mentor on the Mosaic programme.
http://www.mosaicnetwork.co.uk/en_gb/portal/primary-school-mentoring
This is my first experience with such a programme. I wanted to " give something back", to try and inspire a generation of young girls to see the power and value of education. To make the best of themselves and realise their potential. What is great about this programme is that we have sessions with their mothers too. It was a real eye-opener to hear the mothers' stories about their difficulties accessing education. One young Pakistani-origin mum told me that her parents took her out of school when she was 9 having started menstruating, she has not had any formal education since. This was the first day of the mentoring programme, we explored professions and the gender associations with certain jobs. In the run up to today I had attended planning meetings and an interesting educational session on mentoring skills by Michael Mallows, similar to the one in this youtube clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeSadm_GJ7Q
I look forward to developing a relationship with these year 5 girls. One of my aims is to learn from them, and to learn more about myself. I will be sure to update you.
Oh, I must tell you. I am so proud that Malala Yousefzai has enrolled at my daughters school EHS. She is the amazing young lady who continues to be a spokeswoman for womens' right to education. She sustained a Taliban bullet to the head in this pursuit.I wish her all the best in her studies and work. Hey, she even met Angelina Jolie recently!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFKpcyDKLX4
Finally, whilst I am on the subject. I wanted to highlight a non-profit organisation ( currently awaiting UK charity status) called Symphony. Their mission is to provide women with a means of an education, enabling them to break down socio-economic barriers, and have the freedom to invest in themselves, their communities and beyond.
http://www.oursymphony.org/
This resonates with my blog theme this week, and as you have gathered, a topic close to my heart. I have been liaising with the founder of Symphony about sponsoring the nursing education of a Zambian student. This would be a 3 year sponsorship that would put her through nursing school, enabling her to start out on a life of financial security, while also giving back to her community in a meaningful way. I hope I would not be abusing my position if I were to try and recruit sponsors via this blog (feedback on this issue welcomed). We can then club together and sponsor the medical education of a young woman in a developing nation. A deed I think would be really worthwhile.

"If you are in a country that is progressive, the woman is progressive. If you're in a country that reflects the consciousness toward the importance of education, it's because the woman is aware of the importance of education. But in every backward country you'll find the women are backward, and in every country where education is not stressed its because the women don't have education" Malcolm X. 

Signing off from my study in Moseley
Sheikha M

Coming up:
In my next installment I hope to update you on my new role as a "patch" Associate Dean. I need to get through my 400 email backlog first!