1:1 Leisure Mentoring for Elementary School Children in Lichtenberg for more Educational Equity

Do you want to contribute to more educational equality and active participation in Berlin by supporting a child, bringing variety into your everyday life, or simply slipping into the perspective of a child again? - Then we are looking for YOU as a mentor. We are looking for YOU if you would like to accompany and support a mentee on a 1 to 1 weekly basis. The kids have different needs and are already waiting for a suitable mentor. They have just arrived in Berlin or were born here, are curious and motivated to discover new things and to get out of their own neighborhood.

When participating in the project, you have the opportunity to accompany a primary school child aged 8-12 years for eight months and to support them in this way in the development of their interests. With the mentoring program, we reach children who are particularly receptive to leisure activities because they know few places and activities other than their immediate environment. There are many reasons for this: both parents working, single-parent families, financial reasons, parents with limited local and/or language skills, children with refugee backgrounds. You will be thoroughly prepared for your role as a mentor and receive valuable suggestions in training sessions and workshops. In addition, we offer group meetings for exchange among mentors and exciting group events for the tandems. Each tandem also receives a little activity money to finance one or two excursions.

Your Tasks

As a mentor you will accompany a child between 8-12 years with and without a refugee background over a period of 8 months in Lichtenberg. During your weekly 1:1 meetings, you will organize your free time together, get to know Berlin and try out new activities.

We will prepare you for this task in training sessions and you can also exchange ideas with other volunteers at regular mentor meetings. We also regularly organize various exciting group activities to which we invite all tandems.

What's needed

You should have fun and enjoy working with children, be open to new ways of life and different activities, and have three to four hours a week to spare. In addition, we need a certificate of good conduct. You can, if available, already bring your certificate of good conduct, but you will also get a form from us.

Time required

Your support is needed for 8 months. After that, you can decide whether you want to continue to work with us as a mentor. 

Before the mentoring starts, you must attend a get-to-know-meeting for all new volunteers. These take place 2 times a year (February/March, and September / October). 

Important notice

Here you can find some nice mentoring stories from the mentors' point of view as inspiration. We look forward to receiving your application. Afterwards, we will send you a choice of dates for your personal meeting in our office at Fehmarner Straße 12, 13353 Berlin. You are always welcome to contact us here via vostel with any questions. 

The non-profit association "kein Abseits! e.V." realizes integration and education projects since 2011. In cooperation with Berlin schools, universities and refugee homes, we pursue the goal of enabling integrative encounters. Local and refugee children and adolescents are individually and holistically supported in a combination of sports and experiential educational offers, 1: 1 mentoring and vocational orientation. Thus, the association contributes to more educational justice and a peaceful coexistence. The participants get to know possibilities of participation, improve their self-confidence as well as linguistic and social competences.