The children with RF Trustee and mentor, Richard Zinkiewicz.
Hong Kong (China), 28 May 2012 – After ten months of nurturing young minds, the FOOTPRINTS mentoring programmeby RYTHM Foundation drew to a close on Testimonial Night, celebrating the special moments and positive outcomes of the past year’s programme. What began as a “big brother”-type initiative grooming children to excel in life, has grown into a long-term project that has enjoyed fantastic response from both mentors and mentees. FOOTPRINTS was first launched in 2009 by Vijayaratnam Foundation, the Malaysian chapter of RYTHM Foundation, and then replicated in Hong Kong in July 2011.
The programme is aimed at providing children with opportunities to enhance their life experiences through experiential learning and eco-educational activities. In Hong Kong, the first initiative was carried out over ten months and comprised 25 mentors, as well as mentees from HKFEW Wong Cho Bau Secondary School.
Present at Testimonial Night were all the mentees, mentors, school staff, a social worker, QNET and QI staff, and some of the fourth-form students of the school. Sujitra Jayaseelan, Head of VF, kick-started the evening with a welcome speech, before a QI video was shown. After that, the principal of the secondary school gave a short speech.
Then came time for the mentees to take centre stage with two heartfelt performances, singing Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All” and R Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly”. The children also prepared a video of photos taken throughout the programme, along with their feedback.
A slideshow of funny photos of the children’s trip to Taiwan was shown. To express their gratitude, the kids presented their handmade art pieces to the sponsors of the trip, RF Principal Trustee Dato’ Vijay Eswaran and Datin Umayal. These tokens of appreciation were also given to representatives from the QI Group and RF.
After a speech by RF Trustee, Richard Zinkiewicz, it was time to present certificates to all the mentors and mentees. This wonderful occasion ended with a cake-cutting ceremony. During this time, the kids gifted souvenirs from Taiwan to their mentees, and shared stories about their adventure there. Everyone had a great time, and lots of photos were taken to remember the special evening!
A young mentee presents a souvenir to QI Director and mentor, Cathy Zhou.
