“Many have not thought about their lives, values and legacy. FINCO Mentor Workshop pushed them to think further and deeper as to what they want to achieve in life. The mentors were a positive influence bridging students and the outside world, especially when they gave advice on self-improvement and career pathways.” – Cikgu Yvonne, SMK Beladin

It was exciting to find out I was going to visit an interior “kampung” most of my Sarawakian friends have not even visited before. We went on a 5-hour drive to SMK Beladin, passing green scenery and later hopping on a ferry to cross the river.

I was a FINCO Mentor Life Aspiration Workshop facilitator alongside 4 other volunteers from Maybank and HSBC. It was heartwarming to find out how passionate the volunteers were about their community in Sarawak and their high awareness of the state of rural schools.

The 2-day workshop was aimed at providing the 240 Form 4 and 5 students with information on career landscapes and empowering them to break out of the cycle of poverty. By introducing the Financial Institution members to them, they were able to find out more about the world of work and the kind of job opportunities that lay ahead. They also reflected on their life values and decided what values are important to them when making decisions in order to achieve their life goals.

Due to the lack of access to the internet, the volunteers’ experience and advice played a big role in providing information to the students.

FINCO Mentor focuses on providing online and offline mentorship opportunities to inspire secondary school students to achieve their life goals. The Life Aspiration Workshop brings in financial institution volunteers from a variety of professions to become mentors.