On 28th October 2021, the Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL) conducted a mentorship training for the Form 4 and 3 students at Ndung’u Girls Secondary school. The school admit the girls from the neighborhood community since it’s a day school located in Ndeiya, Limuru Sub-County.

The closure of schools and imposed lockdown due to COVID -19 pandemic caused numerous negative effects on the school going children. According to the media reports, there have been rising cases of teenage pregnancies among adolescent girls while boys are affected with the habit of drug and substance abuse as well as involvement in criminal activities. On the other hand, researchers argue that ‘no society can endure, or at least flourish, if it fails to take seriously the eternal task of socializing the next generation of youth, to whom we, as the keepers of our societies and cultures, will bequeath that which we have shepherded and crafted.’ The future of any great nation is anchored in the character, morals and creative mind of its young people. If so, young people are the trustees of the future and there is a dire need of mentoring them as they grow to mature in character.

Thus, CCL conducted the mentorship for the girls with the aim of motivating them to focus on the development of their individual character and become more focused towards attaining their academic goals. This was in line with the school mission “to provide quality and holistic education to the girl child for better future.” The mentoring session focused on developing study habits/reading culture, finishing strong, relationship and character building. Speaking during the session, the facilitator urged the students to focus on developing a positive attitude towards learning and teachers as he emphasized on ‘change your mind, change your life.’ The form four students were urged to focus on finishing strong as they prepare for their final exams while the form three students were strongly urged to think about their ‘Damascus moment’ as they make use of the teachers, text books and involve themselves in active studying. Holistically, the students were urged to avoid distractions which may ruin the development of their individual character and attainment of their academic goals. These include negative peer pressure, irresponsible sexual behavior, bad attitude, pride and laziness among others.

During the training, students showed their thirst to learn more and willingness to apply the best practices and life skills lessons in their individual life. Towards the end, the facilitators engaged the students on a question and answer interactive session while integrating peer teaching strategy in character development. In this case, some of the students participated in responding to some questions raised by their peers. Students expressed their gratitude for the mentorship session as a representative said, “We are very grateful to the facilitators. Our study habits and academic grades will improve and our character will develop as we aim to become better students.” The school Guidance and Counselling teacher, Mrs. Njuguna shared the closing remarks and urged the learners to seriously take into account the life skills and best practices that had been shared and apply in their daily life and academic journey. The training was facilitated by Peter, Millicent and Gilda.