by Lisa Mitchell, Senior Director of Learning Services, Global Water Center, re-blogged from the Global Water Center
Mentoring plays an important role in the Global Water Center’s (GWC) strategy to offer ongoing support to our clients. We know that training is just the first step in learning new knowledge and skills. To consolidate new competencies, ongoing support is necessary. Mentors are well placed to provide this support.
This year, GWC trialed a new strategy to support the graduates of our solar powered water systems (SPWS) training: we paired with the Rural Water Supply Network’s (RWSN) Mentoring Program, to offer SPWS alumni mentoring support. We also supported RWSN’s general mentoring stream, so they could extend it to a broader pool of WASH professionals.
As part of these activities, I had the privilege of becoming a mentor to three mentees, from very different corners of the world: India, Côte d’Ivoire, and Switzerland. I believe I learned more from my mentees than they likely learned from me!
I met with the mentees once or twice per month over the last six months. During our exchange, I reviewed my mentees resume, journal submissions, and even a PhD application. We discussed behaviour change and educational theories and considered innovative approaches to their work. From them I learned about a range of topics from measuring the transfer of agrochemicals into groundwater to involving communities in groundwater recharge initiatives. I also discovered new WASH organizations and initiatives.
The beauty of these relationships is that they evolved according to the mentees’ needs. No two meetings were the same, and each meeting brought out new learning and ideas. I also formed a strong relationship with three people I would not have met otherwise, and I’m confident we will continue to support one another in our professional journeys moving forward.
In the coming months we will share the evaluation from the SPWS stream of the mentoring program. For now, I believe that the mentees from this stream of the program gained at least as much as I did from the program.
Interested in becoming a mentor or mentee yourself? Considering signing up for RWSN’s mentoring program. Details of next year’s program will be released in early 2024.
Rural Water Supply Network - blog 
There is no substitution for field experience in the formation of a water professional. A true professional not only understands the details of science and technology connected with successful water endeavors, but also understands the varying circumstances that apply to almost every water project, whether it be small or large. The community make-up and culture, the water geography of the project location, the availability of operational skills. These are only a few of the ingredients for a successful and sustainable project.
To become a water professional, one can learn more in a few years of field experience in a water deprived area than any Ph.D. program can convey.
Dear Larry, very true: Learning-by-doing is the best way. The problem is the lack of systematic support for such apprenticeships and that is one of the areas that we hope to address in our new strategy, in partnership with GWC