A Meet The Beautiful People Series Story
Hwee Hoon was driven to volunteer as a mentor at Beautiful People as she wanted to empower youths to develop their full potential. She believed that she could serve the community in another way, apart from her usual voluntary work which involved the elderly, people with disabilities and a hospice. Joining Beautiful People in 2012 gave her an opportunity to be exposed to the youth, learn more about the challenges they could face and contribute to their development. Hwee Hoon began volunteering as a Mentor in Pertapis Children’s Home and then joined the Free for Good programme later in 2014. She sees her mentoring journey as relationship building, having been able to journey together with her mentees, share their tears and see them regain strength and move forward.
The opportunity to celebrate her mentees various milestones – from when mentees get a job, get married, have their first born, reconcile with their loved ones, establish their own business, etc has made her appreciate relationships more. The journey as a mentor taught Hwee Hoon to follow the pace of her mentee and let them know that she is here for them. With her fellow mentors, she learns to create a safe space to support mentees in realising their dreams, build trust and work towards a strong relationship. From her mentees’ journey and struggles, she learns resilience, courage, perseverance and love.
“The mentees are my role models.” Hwee Hoon shares that a mentoring journey is not about instructing mentees on what to do, but establishing a safe space for them to share their struggles. It involves being respectful to their needs, asking the right questions to help them sort out their thoughts on how they would move forward, and supporting them in their decisions every step of the way.
Hwee Hoon hopes that her small efforts have supported the mentees and contribute towards Beautiful Peoples goal of empowering each other to achieve our dreams. The relationships built with the mentors and mentees have kept her with the Beautiful People family. The relationship does not end when one becomes less active in volunteering. Beautiful People is a big family and we stay connected regardless of where we are.
2021