Virtual Mentorship
When the Aram Initiative first started working in Sri Lanka, like many organisations, we believed fundraising and distributing resources was the highest form of impact. Year one was two-week trips, one-day visits, and donations. Year two was building infrastructure — laptops, wifi connections, microphones, projectors. But a conversation with a young girl at one of the homes changed everything. She'd received a tablet the previous year from another organisation. It was wonderful, she said, for the two months before it broke. No one could repair it. No one had thought about app access, updates, or maintenance.
This story repeated itself in different forms across every location we visited. Educational toys gathering dust. High-tech donations sitting unused. We were creating temporary moments of joy, but not lasting change.
Virtual Mentorship was born from the understanding that true change comes from consistent engagement, knowledge sharing, and community building — not from swooping in with solutions, but from walking alongside young people as they develop their own.
Our Evolution
Two-week trips, one-day visits, and donations
Building infrastructure — laptops, wifi, projectors
Virtual mentorship — sustained engagement over one-off visits
The Need
- Uneven distribution of quality education and teaching resources
- Limited role models, particularly in non-traditional career paths
- Students carrying the weight of historical trauma affecting their learning
- Foundational gaps in basic concepts hindering further progress
- Limited exposure to career options and life skills
- Many young people struggling to envision themselves in successful roles
How It Works
Format
A mix of one-to-one mentoring (for nuanced topics requiring personalised attention), group workshops (for broader knowledge sharing and public speaking development), and hybrid sessions combining both approaches.
For Mentors
Onboarding and orientation, code of conduct review, area selection based on expertise, content development or shadowing existing mentors, minimum 4-week commitment, regular lesson recaps and safety protocols.
Curriculum
Spans various aspects of quality of life, chosen based on direct requests from centres, observed needs during visits, and mentor expertise. Sessions use screen sharing, GenAI tools, and interactive activities. Tamil-speaking mentors or interpreters support centres where needed.
Impact Measurement
Short-term
Lesson satisfaction ratings, engagement levels, immediate participant feedback
Long-term
Students choosing STEM or non-traditional pathways, career pathway awareness, confidence levels in pursuing opportunities
For Mentees
- Exposure to diverse career paths
- Skill development
- Confidence building
- Access to role models
For Mentors
- Community connection
- Cultural reconnection
- Direct impact creation
- Personal growth
Future Vision
- Expanding the mentor network across the diaspora
- Developing specialised curricula for different age groups and centres
- Enhancing technology integration
- Building stronger assessment frameworks
- Scaling to more children's homes across Sri Lanka
Get Involved
This initiative needs people like you. Whether through volunteering, mentoring, or contributing expertise, there are ways to help.