Mentoring program changing people's lives

Milton Canadian Champion
May 20, 2008

Hiba Kesebi
Special to the Champion

Mentors, mentees and organizers of the Halton Mentoring Partnership Program went silent as Mathew Omoruyi told them about his light at the end of the tunnel.

Omoruyi immigrated to Canada from Australia. Although he enjoyed the scenery and landscape that Canada is well known for, he was quickly hit with the reality of his life, and the reality of Canada.

“I had no Canadian education, no Canadian experience, and no job,” he told individuals from all over Halton who gathered at the Halton Regional Centre recently to recognize the time and efforts of mentors and mentees.

“My future looked blank and I was beginning to feel hopeless. But then I found out about the mentoring partnership program.”

It was through this program that Omoruyi met Peter White: his hope, his “light at the end of the tunnel,” his mentor. That’s because White provided Omoruyi with the time, advice and trust that he needed in order to gain a more complete understanding of the Canadian employment system.

According to Omoruyi, it was through the time and support that White offered him that he was able to secure employment.

In the program, about 125 mentors in Halton are paired up with international professionals, who become their mentees. The program partners with 10 local and government agencies as well as eight educational institutions, including Sheridan College.

Like White, Todd Bassett is also a mentor. Although this is Bassett’s first year in the program, he admitted that he has probably learned just as much from his mentee as his mentee has learned from him.

“It’s a two way street,” he said. “Just like I’ve taught my mentee how to produce good resumes and how to present himself in a job interview, he has also taught me a lot about culture, and even business.”

In the end, Basset believes his goal isn’t to ensure that his mentee has secured a job, rather it’s about seeing him grow as a person.

“Success is individual. What is successful to me may not be successful to another person. That’s why I don’t like to define success in the mentoring program as helping a mentee obtain employment,” he said.

According to program co-ordinator Antony Vadakkanchery, the program aims to not only help international professionals secure jobs, but to also provide mentees with social capital.

“Networking helps them meet new people, who may be able to indirectly help them find a job,” he said.

Nonetheless, Vadakkanchery proudly announced that almost 80 per cent of the mentees in the program are able to secure employment. Furthermore, 95 per cent of them leave the program with a greater understanding of the Canadian system.

Reference: Milton Canadian Champion