R is a 17 year old boy from Afghanistan. He arrived in Britain as a separated young person and although he has a brother to live with, this brother is rarely in the country and Social Services is not providing support.
R is a withdrawn boy who has not been able to find a college place on his own. He speaks with little enthusiasm about anything in his life - although his eyes light up when he mentions cricket.
A mentor began working with him in July 2009. She quickly assisted him to apply for colleges and accompanied him to open days. He starts at college in September. Once his education had been secured his mentor turned her attention to his hobbies and interests. He is a keen cricket player and so his mentor researched local cricket clubs and then accompanied him to his first few sessions. R is now integrated into the club, making friends and attending weekend matches. Although the cricket season is coming to an end, the club have been so impressed with him that they have invited him to play for their Second team.
Although his mentor feels that that her and R have not struck up a friendship as such and that he is still fairly quiet around her, it is obvious that she has provided great practical assistance to him and helped him achieve his aims. Through her he now has the chance to make more friends his own age both within and outside the refugee community.
Update, May 2010:
Six months on and R and his mentor have stayed in touch with occasional texts. His mentor was delighted to hear that the cricket club was so impressed with R that they offered him the one available international place on their First team. He now regularly plays semi-professional cricket and, since he was also granted refugee status recently, he is being paid to do his favourite pursuit.
This is a real success story that demonstrates the ongoing positive effect of a SMILE mentor beyond the end of the relationship.
