Medacta for Life Foundation has for several years supported projects of Pro Juventute, which has now more than 100 years of activity to its credit. As Switzerland’s leading foundation for children and young people, Pro Juventute works “so that every child in Switzerland enjoys a happy childhood and an education based on self-determination and the exertion of responsibility” (quote, from the Pro Juventute website).
Over the past few years, Medacta for Life Foundation has supported the IV Media Licence Recovery project, aimed at those young people in the Ticino region who, for various reasons, have not obtained the licence that marks the end of compulsory schooling and thus represents an important stage in the development and education of every young person.
This year our contribution goes to the Mentoring Project, also implemented by Pro Juventute Svizzera italiana. The project, which was developed in 2008 in synergy between the Division for Social Action and Families, the Locarno City Council and Pro Juventute, is based on the fact that many young people, in our current society and within their primary network, do not find adequate identification figures. The Mentoring Project therefore offers young people aged between 15 and 25 years listening, encouragement and support in a moment of temporary difficulty. This support is implemented through the figure of a qualified Mentor. Having a good mentor can determine the direction and likelihood of success in life for a young person who does not yet feel ready to make important choices: the core of the support figure remains the relationship between an experienced individual and a young person who is building his/her own identity.
Each young person in difficulty (mentoree) is paired with a mentor. By providing the mentoree person with his or her experience and time, the mentor builds a small educational pathway and then supports the young person on an individual and social development level. The mentor helps the mentoree to identify passions and inclinations and, through a reality check, to work towards realising them. The young person, encouraged and stimulated, thus gains confidence, self-confidence and independence.
The project sites are located in Locarno, Bellinzona, Chiasso, Paradiso and Biasca. In each of the districts there are a few dozen young people who are referred to and looked after; these young people are characterised, without detriment to the specific nature of each request, by the need to be listened to, advised and guided by someone who is free from judgement and who can guide and support them in their studies, help them to keep an apprenticeship or a job, and watch over their psychological and physical well-being. For 2023, 91 mentors in Ticino were duly trained and worked individually with the young people and in synergy with each other, through meetings, training, comparisons and supervision. Mentoring ranges from 6 to 12 months, for a maximum of 15 months.
The feedback from the young people who have been able to benefit from a mentor, their parents and the mentors themselves, is very encouraging and speaks in favour of the goodness of a project that is as valuable as it is important for society as a whole.