Interview with a Balu

Osnabrück

In the final days of Spring School, we were involved in a day of interviews with the Balu’s. I was paired with Anne Maya (Facebook name) who is a former student of Osnabrück University. At first, I was hesitant to hear about “interviews” and having to prepare a list of questions in order to gauge the development and involvement of the Balu with the Balu und du program. But, the informality of the interview caused an easy shift from “interview” to a relaxed conversation. I mention informality because during our time together, Anne took me to the botanical garden where she works. One of her projects involves opening a museum about plants.

During our discussion, I mentioned a few key components about the Balu und du program which I felt I could relate my own experiences with. For instance, I asked Anne, “Have you ever had issues with your child being uninterested or disengaged?” Quickly she replied, “Yes, my mogli is very introverted and it is really difficult to get him to do anything.” With her reply, one could notice in her voice there was a little frustration in her voice. However, I asked her what exactly was going on with the child and she told me the story. From what I understand, the child doesn’t have the self-confidence to go out and play. He constantly doubts himself and is in need of reinforcement before attempting any kind of new activity. It seems he’s afraid of failure.

As a solution, I mentioned the possibility of rewarding him for being more active outside. However, Anne has tried on numerous occasions to coax the boy from his shell with little success. Therefore, we worked through the problem and found the best solution may be positive reinforcement in balance with compromise. Whenever they see each other, Anne will take the initiative to say, “Ok, I’ll play cards with you for 30minutes, but then we go outside and play for 30minutes, also.” I feel this is the best method for them to begin forming a strong bond and allow for the mogli to break out of his shell to discover his own self-confidence.

Compared with my own mentorship experience, I feel nothing can compare with the one on one interaction of a mentor with their mentee. I believe over ½ of all communication is nonverbal, so when there is no opportunity for the nonverbal communication (gestures, smiling, laughter, etc.) I feel much of a statement’s meaning is lost. I fell victim to this during the online mentorship project. It was very difficult for my mentee to hold a conversation because I felt we had no relationship to hold onto and sink our roots in. Although I do feel the mentorship project with the Tallahassee children worked, the effect is minimal in comparison to one on one contact and interaction outside of the classroom as demonstrated by the “Balu und du” program.

This class has truly become much more of an experience than I had ever anticipated. The people I met, the classmates I interacted with, the friends I made, and the memories I’ll never forget have become priceless to me. Despite my worries about the financial burdon this class would become, it almost seems irrelevant in comparison to the stories I will have for the rest of my life about the “Balu und du” program and Germany.