FEBRUARY 2008

 

Attention US grads:

MEDA US internships available!
MEDA has the opportunity of a lifetime for young US residents. For 2008-2009, MEDA has again committed funding for two internships for recent graduates from the US.

MEDA is now accepting applications for:

A micro-business development associate, who will work with the Gulf Coast Community Service Center in Gulfport/Biloxi, Mississippi. MEDA is helping to develop a micro-business development program using the ASSETS+ model, which provides training and technical assistance to entrepreneurs.

A human resource administrator, who will work with the human resource department of a Haitian credit union, Fonkoze Financial Services, in their head office in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where MEDA is assisting in the design, implementation and training of a revised job evaluation system and performance management system.

Additional information about these internships is posted at www.meda.org. Send your resumes to jobs@meda.org

Do you know someone ...
... who has a strong interest in community-based economic development, is flexible and able to adapt to different environments and cultures? Please pass this information along!

"A MEDA internship is a great opportunity. I’ve acquired practical professional experience while making a positive impact on people’s lives."

—Scott Bennett, MEDA 2007-08 Internship: Microbusiness Development Associate, West Virginia

Scott Bennett

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Members keep MEDA on the cutting edge, says Pries

Back in 1985, Al Doerksen of Winnipeg attended MEDA’s annual convention in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and heard a lively keynote speaker by the name of Millard Fuller. He was moved by Fuller’s exuberant vision to build houses for poor people through Habitat for Humanity.

When he got back to Winnipeg, Al shared his enthusiasm with friend Paul Hiebert and urged him to sign up for Habitat’s next building blitz in Chicago. Paul recruited a few other people and away they went. They too caught “infectious Habititis” and returned to Winnipeg to start a local Habitat affiliate, one of the first in Canada. In 1993, Winnipeg hosted the Jimmy Carter Work Project, erecting 18 houses in one week.

Paul was recently honored by the Winnipeg affiliate at its 20th anniversary bash. Over the years Winnipeg Habitat has built more than 150 houses.

Seeds sown at that 1985 convention led to other great Canadian connections for Habitat, which now has 65 affiliates in Canada.

It all goes to show what can happen when you hear a great speaker at a MEDA convention, and carry some seeds home to plant in fresh soil.