Photo By Chief Master Sgt. Richard Simonsen | Leslie Wright (right), representative of the United States Agency for International...... read more read more
KANDAHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Members of the United States Agency for International Development and the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team-Military met with Kandahar University officials, April 24, at Camp Nathan Smith to help foster an expanded government development initiative.
The initiative from the office of Kandahar Provincial Governor Tooryalai Wesa would take volunteers from the Kandahar University and place them into a government internship program.
“The purpose of the program is to be able to build the capacity of the government through the internship program,” said U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Oladapo Ajala, a civil affairs Sailor of the Kandahar PRT-M from Richmond, Va. “Once they graduate, [the students] will be able to work for the government to build the government’s [human] infrastructure.”
The program is designed to produce educated professionals that give back to their country upon graduation.
“This is our country, if we work for it, it will progress,” said Engineer Tawab, the vice chancellor of Kandahar University.
“The university wants its students to work in local government positions,” said U.S. Army Capt. Jyan Bevalian, a civil affairs soldier of Kandahar PRT-M from Sunnyvale, Calif. “The students just do not know what positions are available.”
The program’s goal is twofold: First, it improves the quality of workers in the government; Secondly, it also benefits the student by giving them marketable skills in many different areas.
“There will be agricultural, engineering, medical, economic and education internships, with the help of nongovernmental organizations, in the district and provincial governments,” said Ajala. “This program will help build the districts, the province and Afghanistan as a whole.”
Funding for the program comes, in part, from grants from Purdue University and Ball State University, said Bevalian.
The incentive for the students often includes a small amount of money, but the real benefit for the people in Kandahar province is the creation of a skilled workforce through real-world experience, said Ajala.
“You can’t buy [skilled laborers] at the bazaar,” said Tawab.
The long term plan is to build a career center on that campus to help graduating students and potential employers find each other.
| Date Taken: | 04.24.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.26.2011 00:58 |
| Story ID: | 69341 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 294 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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