 |
Mary,
a grant recipient, explains how English and computer training
will help her accomplish her dreams. |
Angie has a big
dream. One day, this girl from a Nile Delta village says that she
is going to work in the international fashion industry.
With a recent
mini-grant from Coptic Orphans, she is already on her way to making
her dream a reality. She is taking a three-month course in perfume
making, a course that will give her a head-start both in advanced
study and in the job market after she graduates.
Angie is part of the
new Big Dreams, Mini-Grants Initiative in Coptic Orphans, an initiative
designed to encourage children in the Not Alone program
to dream big and plan carefully. It gives them the tools they need
to overcome the obstacles of the Egyptian employment market as they
launch forward with their dreams into adulthood.
On July 16, 10 children
between the ages of 13 and 20 gathered all around the Nile Delta and
Mediterranean regions of Egypt, including Alexandria, Port Said, Behara,
Benha, and Cairo to receive certificates acknowledging the big, creative
dreams that they have dreamt and, with hard work and persistence,
the mini-grant awards will help them make reality.
"If
I were in his place with all these people cheering for me,
there is no obstacle that I would not overcome to reach success"
|
The children
at the ceremony were part of the of 40 Not Alone participants recently chosen from a wide pool of applicants
for the mini-grants. Not Alone children
applied by describing their dreams and then setting concrete goals
that they would need to accomplish to reach their dreams. The process
supported the success of even those who were not chosen by encouraging
them to think big and plan carefully.
Most children
who attended the area ceremony will use their grants for computer
and English language training because they see these as vital keys
to future success in a nation that suffers from high unemployment
and inadequate training in employable skills such as computers. Many
children who study computers in school don't even touch a computer
at all in their computer class.
Girgis, one of the children
receiving a mini-grant, plans to invest his grant in enhancing his
computer skills, but with a creative twist. He will learn computers
while earning an English certificate at the American Center in Alexandria.
The certificate
will enhance his education in hotel and tourism school. It will also
prepare him for
further study
in the university and make him more marketable
when he launches
into the work world.
 |
Another
grant recipient presents about her project |
Girgis' mother also attended
the ceremony, and beamed with pride as the entire room cheered for
Girgis. "If I were in his place with all these people cheering
for me, there is no obstacle that I would not overcome to reach success,"
she said.
Nevien wants to invest
her grant in computer skills, and will put those skills to work for
her very focused career plans. Her family once wanted her to drop
out of school, but Nevien pressed on. She is now studying engineering
in the university.
She asked for
a grant so that she could learn AutoCAD, engineering software that
will prove indispensable in her future career as an engineer. Nevien
will commute for about an hour from her home in Benha in the Nile
delta to Cairo for the course.
No matter their
dreams, the children at the Cairo ceremony in July 2008 have the ability
to make them happen. More of the same ceremonies will take place soon
all throughout Egypt, preparing children to dream big and achieve
those dreams.
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