A Short Story About Mentoring

When Ulysses was about to leave Ithaca to join the Greek armada and fight the Troyans, he wanted that his son Telemaccus continue his life education under the best possible tutelage. Ulysses asked his very good friend, Mentor, to be in charge and take on this sacred responsibility.

Mentor accepted... Mentor tried... but Mentor was not a very good mentor.
Athena, the goddess of wisdom and heroic pursuits, saw what was happening and decided to help Ulysses and Telemaccus by taking the form and responsibilities of Mentor; and she did... and the mentoring of Telemaccus was a big success.

As it often happens, Mentor–not Athena–got the credit for Telemaccus’ good education and that’s why we call ourselves “Mentors” and not “Athenas”. And that’s one of the many reasons why MultiPOD is trying to recruit more “Athenas” into the program.

Does this unfair gender bias sound familiar? You can do something about it: please join MultiPOD Mentoring and Women in Global Health (www.womeninglobalhealth.org and let’s get more women into our programs).