By Viola Hoppe | Project Leader
The past year ended on a high note – full of gatherings, celebrations, and vibrant activities. And we didn’t slow down! In the first few months of 2025, our focus shifted to organizing new matchings, getting to know new volunteers, and hosting both 3-month and 1-year check-in meetings with our tandems. We’ve already accomplished a lot!
At the beginning of the year, we successfully carried out two matching phases, bringing together two new tandems who are now meeting regularly – how exciting!
The getting-to-know-each-other phase at PaSch has been filled with laughter and connection. The children have quickly warmed up to their mentors, and it's clear that they’re already feeling safe and at ease.
We also held 3-month meetings with two of our tandems. During these sessions, we bring together the mentee, their parent, the mentor, and two of us from the PaSch team. After talking as a group, we speak with each person individually and conduct a short impact questionnaire to see how the mentorship is going. We repeat this questionnaire after one year to better understand each tandem's development. It’s always amazing to hear what children have already learned from their mentors after just three months – and how much more confident they’ve become.
One beautiful pattern we’ve noticed: mentees often highlight that both of them should have fun during their meetings – they really see themselves as a team with their mentor! And the smiles on the kids’ faces when their mentor walks in during the check-in meeting? Absolutely priceless. Even when they arrive tired and quiet, the moment their mentor enters, their eyes light up and the energy comes flooding back.
At the 1-year check-in, we see even deeper bonds. One tandem we met in April shared how meaningful their time together has been. The mentor told us how she always made time for their meetings, even during an intense year at work – often arriving exhausted, but leaving full of energy and joy. We even looked at their ideas of activities they wrote down in their mentoring contract a year ago, and smiled to see how many of them they had already accomplished. There is more they still want to do – and so many new experiences they have already discovered together. The mentee told his mother before the meeting: “Mama, I think I have the best mentor in the whole world!” – what a beautiful compliment!
We’ve also had the chance to speak with many new volunteers and were thrilled to welcome four new mentors at our mentor training in March. We're in the middle of another matching phase and can’t wait – the next tandems might already start their first three introductory meetings next week. We’re so excited!
Another wonderful highlight was our mentor exchange meetup in March, held at a cozy café in our district Wedding. Eight mentors joined us along with two PaSch team members to share their experiences. We heard heartwarming stories, as well as open discussions about the challenges that can come with mentorship. These gatherings are always a meaningful way to learn from each other and stay connected.
So, what’s next?
Along with continuing new matchings and getting to know new interested mentors and families, the celebration season is about to begin! We’re looking forward to our local Neighborhood Festival, hosted by our community center, and of course, our very own PaSch Summer Festival – especially special this year because PaSch is turning 15!
There’s always so much to do – and so much joy in doing it.
Thanks to your generous donations, we can keep making these special moments possible – from fun outings with tandems to a delightful café meet-up to recognize the invaluable work of our mentors with their mentees.
From the bottom of our hearts – thank you for being part of the PaSch journey!
By Viola Hoppe | project coordination
By Viola Hoppe | Project Leader
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
