Giving hope to the kids
Mustafa Sheikh knows growing up in a fringe community can be tough.
The Gisborne-raised Auckland resident, 24, is the founder of the Bread Charity, a non-profit that aims to help New Zealand’s most vulnerable children realise their hopes and dreams.
Operating out of two lowdecile schools in Auckland already, with a focus on supporting children’s own aspirations, Sheikh this week plans to start rolling out the service to the isolated East Coast region, where he hails from.
Wesley Intermediate deputy principal Simon Tafea said the programme had been offered to year eight students at the decileone school for two years.
Some students expressed interest in getting into the health sector, so people studying medicine were brought in to speak with the kids, and they were taken on a trip to see what university life looked like in reality.
They’ve also had workshops with volunteers in a big brother/ big sister-type arrangement.
Employment opportunities, goal setting, and trying to get kids thinking about ‘‘life outside the circle they know’’ were discussed and there was also help with homework, Sheikh said.
A formal syllabus has been developed in the hope the programme will expand to more schools as its mentor pool grows.
A normal session had a ratio of three volunteers to every nine students, to keep it ‘‘pretty personal’’. The mentors were there to support and encourage kids’ ideas, inspire them and promote personal development.
Sheikh said by the end of the programme, quieter kids were more confident and engaged. Often their academic grades ended up improving, too.
Growing up in Gisborne, Sheikh said he saw first-hand the effects of poverty, which eventually led him to create the charity. He first studied honours chemistry, but now works fulltime with the charity.