Moi University School of Medicine, Eldoret, Kenya
Our collaboration with the Moi University School of Medicine in Eldoret, Kenya is one of the more advanced remote mentorship programs aimed at students in year 3-4 of life sciences subject posts as well as graduate students. Our group of mentees include medical and graduate students at the Faculty of Medicine. Current discussion topics include women’s health in remote areas, child mortality, vaccination, and infectious diseases. This mentorship initiative is based primarily on academic discussion and partnership, and aims to provide a forum through which Trinity students and their counterparts can discuss possible solutions to pressing and topical global health concerns worldwide. Under faculty supervision, graduate students and Trinity students also plan to engage in supporting graduate level research projects for MSc students at Moi Universtiy. Communication is via e-mail as well as video communication services such as Skype.
National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi, India
BSI is involved in a growing collaboration between NII and the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto. We propose to establish bidirectional mentorship primarily between graduate students in the Dept. of Immunology at the U of Toronto and students at the NII. To this end, we have already connected a few students working on similar projects at the two institutions. We are hoping to expand this dialogue to include more students that will engage in discussions pertaining to pertinent medical research questions in the different labs. at each institute. NII students are also expected to participate in international online conferences hosted by BSI.
Chenrnivtsi National University , Ukrainian High School Initiative, Ukraine
The BSI Mentorship Program in Ukraine is an opportunity for students to establish cross-cultural communication, learn about life in other countries, and promote personal growth for both mentors and mentees. Currently there are 7 mentors from the University of Toronto and 9 mentees in Ukraine. The students in Ukraine are either studying in Chernivtsi University or in a high school in Chernivtsi. As part of the mentorship program, students communicate by email or Skype to discuss differences in cultures, student life in their respective countries, their travels, as well as reading books in parallel and sharing perspectives. We plan to increase numbers of both mentors and mentees and to continue the forward-oriented progress of our remote mentorships to these high-school and post-secondary students.
First Nations Youth Mentorship and Pen Pal Project, Canada
This First Nations Mentorship program is an initiative of BSI with a planned launch date of Fall 2015. Through this program we will partner First Nations community youth in Toronto and Northern Ontario with Trinity students. Trinity students will provide academic support when requested. The overall goal of this program is to promote cross-cultural understanding.
Girl Child Initiative, Kenya
The BSI plans to partner with Windle Trust Kenya to offer mentorship to refugee girls that have limited access to educational and academic resources. These are girls that have been affected by war in their respective countries and experience enormous challenges in accessing education in the refugee camp. In most cases these girls are denied access to education by virtue of their economic and social circumstances, as well as the community practices that do not acknowledge the importance of education for female children. The communication between our students and the female refugees will be based primarily on confidentially shared e-mailing. The intent is to partner with females students at Trinity. The intent is to provide both educational and moral support via this remote mentorship program. In the future we plan to provide material assistance through reading materials and school supplies such as solar lamps for these students.
Rongai Boys High School Initiative, Kenya
The BSI plans to offer online mentorship to grade 11 and 12 high school students in the Rongai Boys High School. Areas of support include, but are not limited to; life skills, career guidance, writing skills, science tutoring, among other areas.
The BSI lead for this initiative, James Madhier, is actively engaged in liaising with the Rongai Boys High School student heads to partner Trinity students through a confidential email system. The goal of this bi-directional interaction between Trinity students and the Kenyan students is to increase cross- cultural understanding.