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UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

  • Open Letter
  • Purpose
  • Vision
  • and Way & How of The Mentor Gathering Film Project

September 1st, 2005

Dear Film Documentary Enthusiast,
     Thank you for visiting Serenade's Mentorship Program web site.  I entrust your visit to the Serenade web site and Mentorship Program sub-web site is educating you on the greatest challenge we as a society face - and what a collective United States of America can be with all of us doing our part.  [If you haven't read, seek: http://www.goserenade.org ]
 
     How enlightening it is to know how audio visual mediums not only enhance, but document the immediate facial and body reaction provided by "aha" moments of human beings.  The Mentor Gathering process is such that experience - to witness when the interviewee realizes that he or she indeed has a success in his/her life and can indeed be a mentor - in otherwards, a friend to another.  A moment of clarity.  That the world can not only be a place of give and take, but indeed a place of insurmountable belief in life through the mutual offering of love.
 
As in any great creative endeavor, not all the parts come always together at the same moment until down the road when the creation is to be deemed, "Finished." When composing a song, not all the parts or even the notes are in order.  When writing a novel, not all the chapters or occurances make sense.  So is it with the audio visual medium.  The main message is - TO START!
 
I hope that you will have great fun and meet a plethora of fantastic people!  Thank you in advance for all your dedicated work to discover the true personage ability; the true definition of humanity.
 
Brightest Peace,
Shaiyel Seltzer
Founder of Serenade

Purpose:

The purpose of the Mentor Gathering Film Project is to connect audio visual artistry with educational research needed in order to find out what individual needs for mentors are, and how each of us can contribute in becoming a situation specific or lifetime adult mentor - in other words, a friend. 

     In recognizing that in order to connect mentoring with citizenship, going and talking with citizens IS the research. So Mentor Gatherings were born.  The concept of documenting the process is vital to the livelyhood of Serenade.  Without high - touch, in otherwards talking with everyone and anyone in all neigborhoods Mentor Gatherings are fun ways in which you can get involved in the process of finding out what people expect and value in a mentor and what things people want mentoring help with in their lives and neighborhoods. This is for the purpose of creating a specific top notch adult mentorship program for the ages.

What I have come up with is to do research in terms of what kinds of things do adults need help with and to awaken all whom Serenade comes in contact with to awaken the consept that all have something to contribute.

   I am attempting to start the Mentorship Program of an organization I have founded called Serenade [See: http://www.goserenade.org ]. What I have come up with is to do research in terms of what kinds of things do adults need help with and to awaken all whom Serenade comes in contact with to awaken the consept that all have something to contribute.
     I recognized that in order to connect mentoring with citizenship, going and talking with citizens IS the research. So I came up with Mentor Gatherings. Mentor Gatherings are fun ways in which you can get involved in the process of finding out what people expect and value in a mentor and what things people want mentoring help with in their lives and neighborhoods. This is for the purpose of creating a specific top notch adult mentorship program for the ages.

What is involved in a Mentor Gathering is one person asking 6 questions:

What is your definition of a mentor?
Who do you wish your ideal mentor to be? Can be found anywhere throughout
history.
Has anyone mentored you? If so, who, why and how?
What area in your life could you use a mentor?
What tools and skills does a great mentor need to have?
What area of your life can you become a mentor to another?
while another films, videotapes... the person interviewing. A "man on the
street"
type of thing.

And another filming the occurance.

So, to start small, Wednesday, September 7th, I have arranged with some
people to meet at Baltimore City Community College - Harbor Campus to do
such interviewing at the Inner Harbor. [See:
http://mentorship.goserenade.org/gatherings.html ] We could sure use some people that have movie type cameras. I also want to have people shoot all over the various neighborhoods of Baltimore. I want to plan more Mentor Gatherings at other dates and times while I am there specific to neighborhoods and in October when I am not. I have a web site that is all set up for placing and playing streaming programs, real player....., but I currently have no equipment that I can download any digital audio or video. I don't own a video camera and I am just
starting Serenade - finding a Non-profit fiscal sponsor.... I just did not want to wait until spring when the winter is such a great time to compile things - write and plan for spring. With the people I will be able to in-person connect with in the middle of September, things may move quickly.

Vision: So my vision is to create a short movie that depicts the history of mentors in the United States of America, the current challenge of adults connecting to mentors, especially regarding having support for issues that adults must be persistent in, in regards to government agencies and politicians.

The main reason I am starting with mentorship is because of the things I have had to go through in my life. From personal experience drives passion. When I write, "Having the conversation regarding adult mentors in the United States is crucial to the existance of many people acknowledging that they indeed have something to contribute, and the hope it brings to so many that want a friend by their side. No longer does anyone have to be courageous alone. No longer does one have to take on a 'system'; whether it is fighting for much needed physical or mental health, to having your court date dealing with a horrid landlord, to dealing with muggings, burglaries, robberies, ransackings and the grief, anger, and sorrow it creates in a human being alone." I have. The only thing that makes sense to me IS Serenade. There can be a way for people to not suffer such as I have.

I lived in Maryland for most of my life. For three years now I live in Portland, Oregon. I intend Baltimore and Portland to be the pilot programs for Serenade. I will be in Baltimore on September 6th, 7th, & 8th travel to Washington D.C. - back in Baltimore September 15th,-18th New York, Philadelphia, and back to Baltimore September 26-30th. Lots of library research and interviews. I will also be attending a few conferences, one of which is the Department of Peace. September 30th I leave for Portland.

Thank you for considering this project. There is much more to write and a formal proposal I can write when I return from my trip - in October.

Welcome to the Mentor Gathering Film Project!
Sincerely,

Shaiyel Seltzer

Tel: 503-309-7254
This is the question we must answer if we truly want peace.  Peace naturally emanates from ourselves.  So why do we decide that some people deserve and others don't when peace is truly available to all?

"Mentorship With A Civic Twist!" © 2005, 2009