From the Coordinator of Social Mentoring , as a platform that promotes quality mentoring in the field of social action and, therefore, the development of bonds of trust between people, we have reflected on the impact that COVID-19 can have in the programs and we have put together a list of suggestions to help you adjust to the confinement situation .
This document is a support tool, rather than a guide to be followed strictly, which we make available not only to social mentoring programs, but also to any project that accompanies people. Thus, it will be necessary that the indications that we give here are adapted to the different realities, objectives and profiles of the targeted people.
In addition to following the obligations and recommendations that the government has determined, we believe that mentoring programs can contribute to improving the situation, developing a highly valuable task of emotional support and support, especially for the most vulnerable people.
Since our routines have changed and our movements are restricted to the minimum expression, it is easy for some people to feel overwhelmed and tend to isolation, thus increasing their vulnerability. That is why, now more than ever, we need support networks, safety spaces and relationships that generate comfort for us. In this aspect, the mentoring programs take on a more than relevant meaning at a time like the present: only if we feel connected will we be able to face this situation with the willpower, patience and state of mind that it requires.
Consequently, circumstances lead us to incorporate a claim in this very introduction: Internet access as a right of first order for all people. In order to maintain mentoring relationships during confinement, access to communications becomes a crucial element that will determine, a great deal, the quality and impact of accompaniment. Hence our appeal to public administrations, as well as to large companies in the telecommunications sector, to do everything in their power to guarantee such access, especially for the most vulnerable people.
From the Coordinadora we want to help maintain the support network and ensure that the most vulnerable people can continue to have the spaces of trust provided by relationships with their mentors.
So, we put ourselves at your disposal for whatever is necessary these days and, above all, we encourage you to adapt your projects to ensure that ties are maintained, even if virtually.
Kilde: La Coordinadora Mentoria Social, Spain
