Alhumdulillah after the Mentor Training Weekend 2 (MTW 2) in Sweden itself, I feel more prepared than ever to take on this role as mentor. After all the role plays we took part in and the training,  anticipating the camper arrival at the site was exhilarating. We were eagerly waiting and searching for the coach just like we do for the Eid moon at the end of the holy month of Ramadhan. As the bus was sighted, the thought of meeting 48 new faces dawned upon me and my co mentor. Following this the rest of the day flew past with barely a minute to spare. It felt a bit awkward at first getting into conversations with campers from my planet as I barely knew them and vice versa. After a quick tour, in which many questions were fired at me, by the eager campers and room allocations were shown, we moved on to do wudhu and salaat. Here the namaaz spine system was introduced to the campers and alhumdulillah to my amazement my planet grasped the concept straight away.

 

Dinner followed and gave us, the mentors, the opportunity to mingle with all the campers. InshAllah over the duration of the camp I hope to learn the name of all the campers. After a super delicious meal namaaz-e-magrebain was recited and then we moved on to the assembly and fire regulations, in which everyone paid great attention and listened attentively.

 

Next we moved to the highlight of the day, something I was waiting for, the PDT session with Dr Mahmood Datoo. He began with the lateral thinking quiz; this was just as challenging to me as my planet, and pushed every camper in my planet to take an active role. Having seen the energy and happiness displayed by the campers it brought great satisfaction. In addition it reminded me of my earlier years when I was a camper!!

 

I’ve really enjoyed my first day as a mentor. Our last task for the evening was to assist the campers in putting on their bid linen - it proved a great challenge. The day was coming to an end yet the campers were all still ecstatic and wanted to continue playing with their friends. With energy levels still high, it was time for goodnight…  

 

Mohammed Abbas Rajani

Venus Mentor

Sweden 2007 - Mentor Diaries