Opportunities Industrialization Centers International  |
NEWS (Spring 2006)
OICI BGB Student Awarded Promising InternshipJune 26, 2006
 Brea Heidelberg, a graduate of OICI’s Building Global Bridges (BGB) program, has recently been awarded an extremely competitive paid internship with the Foreign Agricultural Service. Brea will work at the agency over the summer researching and writing reports on trade policy issues and organizing office events.
OICI congratulates Brea, and is encouraged that our BGB program continues to be successful in giving students the skills they need to excel in the field of international development. Brea came to be involved in OICI’s BGB program through her major in Business Administration and International Area Studies at Drexel University. OICI works with Drexel, as well as four other area universities, to provide international career development services for undergraduate juniors, seniors and recent college graduates.
In 2005, Brea came together once a week for ten weeks with 22 other students from area universities. The 3-hour long courses offered intensive practical skills and career guidance lessons from seasoned international development experts, including lessons taught by members of OICI’s staff. Students also received one-on-one mentoring sessions with OICI staff members to provide them with career guidance and support.
Brea reported that she benefited greatly from her BGB courses, saying that the experience “gave her a better understanding of how international NGO’s operate and how successful programs are designed and implemented.” Practical skills such as these are important in the competitive international development sector, particularly since most organizations place a high value on both experience and education. Brea, along with other BGB participants, also received assistance in resume building, interviewing and networking for employment.
OICI once again congratulates Brea for her achievement; we are confident many more will follow.
For more information on the Building Global Bridges Program, visit the BGB page on our website or contact the BGB Program Manager, Rachelle Martinez, at rmartinez@oici.org.
OICI Commemorates ‘Day of the African Child’
June 16, 2006
Today, June 16th, 2006, OICI commemorates the Day of the African Child. On June 16th of every year, the day has been used to acknowledge both the progress made and the progress needed to further the safety and overall development of children living in Africa.
OICI recognizes the enormous challenges that exist for children throughout the continent, including child labor, child soldiers, lack of access to education, malnutrition and other significant health challenges. Children throughout the continent continue to face incredible risks that require significant interventions.
To ensure that African children have the support they need to develop into responsible, educated adults, OICI is focusing on providing food security and access to clean water that is vital to keeping children healthy. By helping children stay healthy, OICI is doing its part in ensuring that they have the healthy minds and bodies needed to excel.
In Ghana, OICI is currently providing nutritional assistance to over 10,000 children orphaned by HIV/AIDS through the Ghana Hope program. Through the Ghana Enhance program, OICI is helping to end parasitic infections and micronutrient deficiencies among children in Northern Ghana, and is offering a comprehensive support program to children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. In Guinea, OICI is providing over 4,000 mothers with education on nutrition, breastfeeding and child and maternal health. OICI also constructs hundreds of wells each year, ensuring communities have access to healthy, clean water.
No organization can or should work alone, and OICI takes this day to also acknowledge the tremendous work being carried out by other national and international organizations. Ensuring the safety and development of children on the African continent is not easy; but the promise that the work holds in both saving lives and promoting a more prosperous and stable future makes the work both necessary and rewarding.
On this ‘Day of the African Child’, OICI also commemorates those children who are living under the most challenging of circumstances. Ultimately, this day is not about OICI, a government, or any institution…this day is about them. We hope for their success and we will continue to work tirelessly for their future.
Nigerian Governor Praises OICI’s JOBS Nigeria ProgramJune 1st, 2006
Donald Duke, Governor of the Cross River State in Nigeria, recently sent a letter to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission in Nigeria, praising the work that OICI’s JOBS Nigeria program is undertaking in order to dramatically reduce unemployment in the Kano and Cross River States in the country.
Gov. Duke explains that “apart from affording the Trainees the opportunity to competitively access employment opportunities in the rapidly expanding labor market, [the program] directly exposes them to the job placement and micro-credit programs of JOBS Nigeria.” This focus on helping unemployed youth in Nigeria find or create jobs is critical to the future stability of the country.
Nigeria currently has high unemployment rates, particularly among youth, which has added to social and political instability in the country. Many of the current NGO programs in the country offer skills development training but fail to offer much in the way of job placement or business development services to their students. JOBS Nigeria is different; the program focuses on providing youth the skills and credit they need to start their own businesses and also helps to facilitate employer and employee linkages.
Gov. Duke notes that a “large number of Cross Riverians have benefited from the various skills acquisition, entrepreneurial and leadership development programs of JOBS Nigeria…within the same period, other Cross Riverians have gained employment through the Job Placement program.” Gov. Duke’s comments accurately reflect the two-pronged approach that JOBS Nigeria takes. The program’s first component encourages entrepreneurship by offering business development and management training and by helping trainees access business start-up credit. The program’s second component helps trainees access employment by facilitating linkages with employers through the development of jobs databases and career fairs.
Though JOBS Nigeria is just over a year-old, its approach has already helped thousands of unemployed youth find jobs, while also helping businesses in Nigeria to find the kind of skilled staff they require for growth. Gov. Duke recognizes the accomplishments and encourages the program to continue in the future, saying “I am convinced that with a sustained program focus, the positive impact of the JOBS Nigeria program will be overwhelming in Cross River State as youth unemployment will witness a significant reduction.” OICI is convinced as well of the program’s positive impact as well, and efforts are currently underway to expand and extend the life of this crucial program.
To learn more about this program, please visit the JOBS Nigeria program page or contact Steven J. Wisman, Vice President of Programs at OICI.
OIC Liberia Opens New UNHCR Computer ProgramMay 20th, 2006
Liberia OIC, a local OICI affiliate organization, recently started a Computer Training Program in the capital of Monrovia with funding from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The program aims to teach computer literacy to returning Liberian refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the local community, many of whom have had little interaction with computers because of the decade-long civil war that only ended in 2003.
For Liberia to resume normal economic activities, its population must obtain the skills needed to run a modern business sector, which is why teaching computer literacy is critical for future growth and stability. Liberia OIC’s Computer Training Program is helping to provide some of these skills needed at its new center, which consists of 20 computers, one projector, and networking and internet service for all computers.
Students are placed one to a computer, so that they will have full interaction with the training modules used. Modules have been developed for Introduction to Computer Operation, Windows XP and all Microsoft Office applications, all of which are essential for enhanced business productivity. There are six training sessions per day, Monday through Friday, in order to ensure that the maximum number of trainees benefit from the center.
Liberia OIC is also committed to program sustainability, including the regular maintaining and upgrading of computers and equipment, which is why a practical cost-recovery method has been built into the program. On the evenings and weekends, the center functions as an internet café so that Liberia OIC is able to recoup staff salaries and ensure that they can deliver quality computer training services in the long-term.
For more information on Liberia OIC, please visit their affiliate webpage, or send an e-mail to Liberia OIC’s Program Director, Mr. George Kpawulu.
|
|
