7.2.1 From the SOS Youth Home to the Professional World in Madagascar
Deutsche Post DHL and SOS Children’s Villages GoTeach Partnership - 2014
“[The initial partnership launch meeting] was very official and serious. I k new that it wouldn’t be a simple company visit lik e we did before, but a very important project.” – Narindra, SOS GoTeach Youth Mentee
7.2.1.1 Content Information
Madagascar is the true pioneer of the GoTeach partnership. While CEOs in Europe were still developing the idea of GoTeach in Bonn and Innsbruck, local stakeholders in Madagascar had already taken the initiative and started a programme to address youth employability and career development.
The Madagascar pilot GoTeach programme was initiated in 2010. DP DHL and SOS Children’s Villages International launched an international partnership under the umbrella of the innovative “Go Teach” programme in December of the following year.
Each year DP DHL's partnership with SOS Children's Villages has expanded into new countries, with 22 active partnerships around the world – and this number is growing: Madagascar, South Africa, Vietnam, Brazil (2011), Ghana, Kenya, Mexico (2012), Ethiopia, Uganda, Jordan, Morocco, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica (2013), Indonesia, Thailand, Mauritius, El Salvador, Colombia, Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Haiti (2014).
In all participating countries, the joint partnership focuses on supporting young people aged 15 to 25 as they face the challenge of transitioning into the professional world. The overall goal of the partnership is to foster youth employment and career development. GoTeach works closely to support the participants as they enter the job market in order to generate their own income as independent adults. In addition, an annual donation from Deutsche Post DHL to the local SOS Children’s Villages Association contributes to the holistic development of young people by supporting educational programmes and youth facilities.
The partners in each country are free to decide on the programmes they consider useful for achieving these goals. Therefore, all activities are coordinated locally and with close cooperation between SOS Children’s Villages and DP DHL, enabling stakeholders to tailor the programme according to the country’s specific needs and job market. Regardless of which programmes are chosen, however, the target issues are universal in all countries: skills training, orientation and job exposure.
It is the close contact between SOS Children’s Villages and Deutsche Post DHL that makes the GoTeach partnership unique. For example, DP DHL employees are asked to contribute their individual professional and personal experience by mentoring SOS young people as they take their first steps into the professional world. Deutsche Post DHL employees can relate to their own experiences when it comes to job access and starting a career. They serve as role models and are accepted by the young people as trainers and mentors.
SOS Children’s Villages focuses on the individual development of each child in care, providing access to the best possible education. However, there are areas of support for the young people in care where partners are needed to support them in this critical stage of becoming independent and active members of society.
Together with Deutsche Post DHL, this long-term corporate relationship embodies the positive impact of personal development, employability and empowerment to SOS Children’s Villages beneficiaries.
7.2.1.2 Education to Employment
Set up and Process: From the Chamber of Commerce to Partners
The SOS Children’s Village Madagascar and Deutsche Post DHL partnership began by chance at a local Chamber of Commerce meeting in 2009, initiated by SOS CV Madagascar Communications and Partnership Coordinator, Faneva Raharimanantsoa, and DP DHL Madagascar CEO, Mamy Rakotondraibe.
At the time of the meeting, the GoTeach programme had not yet been developed and DP DHL Madagascar did not have the budget to financially support a partnership, but were willing to contribute in another way. The chance meeting at the local Chamber of Commerce led to Madagascar being launched as one of the four initial pilot countries of the GoTeach partnership. Five years later, it is currently preparing to welcome the 5th annual GoTeach Madagascar cohort.
Each year, young people between the ages of 15 and 25 who reside in an SOS youth house and have completed their high school education are selected as GoTeach participants. In order to provide all young people the opportunity to participate in the programme, each year SOS young people from different youth homes take part. Qualifying young people between 15 and 25 years old from SOS Children’s Villages, the Family Strengthening Programme and Hermann Gmeiner Schools attend the annual “Forum of Work” career guidance conference.
In 2013, around 430 young people from SOS Children’s Villages family based care and family strengthening programmes were reached by DP DHL educational partnership activities. Two DP DHL business units, Global Forwarding and Express, participate in the GoTeach partnership in Madagascar; the programme’s activities range from one day workshops to eight months of professional mentoring.
Upon completing the GoTeach programme, “youth and families have higher goals for the young peoples’ future – before their goals stopped at obtaining the license [high school diploma],” stated Ms. Raharimanantsoa.
Sustainable and Supportive Transition from Education into Adulthood
Before the launch of the GoTeach programme, finding and securing employment to establish a financially independent life away from the SOS Children’s Villages was a pressing challenge for SOS young people in Madagascar.
“Our youth have more difficulties than others who have parents because people think they are not reliable, serious or just incompetent. Thus, to get work or training, the Association must submit with their application a letter of introduction and commitment to youth,” said Faneva Raharimanantsoa, SOS Children’s Villages Madagascar Communications and Partnerships Coordinator.
The goal of the programme is not only to prepare young people to begin their careers and build critical job experience, but to empower and motivate young people from Madagascar to continue their education.
Upon completing the programme, “youth and families have higher goals for the young peoples’ future – before their goals stopped at obtaining the license [high school diploma],” continued Ms. Raharimanantsoa.
For GoTeach alumnus, Phidelisse, it was his first exposure to the career world. “The few experiences I have received during this programme allowed me to clarify my ideas about my future job,” stated Phidelisse. He is currently perusing an education to work in Madagascar’s thriving tourism industry.
In addition, the programme was also life-changing and inspirational for SOS young people with professional goals outside of Deutsche Post DHL’s logistics sector. Narindra, a GoTeach alumna, began the GoTeach programme as a recent high school graduate and referred to the programme as being instrumental to her teaching career path.
“For me, a good teacher is someone sociable and knows how to live in a community.” said Narindra. “The GoTeach programme really helped me shape my future job because it allowed me to improve my behaviour vis-à-vis the other, encourage mutual support and team spirit.”
Challenges and Resilience
One of the greatest challenges for SOS young people embarking on the GoTeach programme was preparing them psychologically into the career world. “[The programme participants] consider DP DHL a ‘paradise world,’ an unreachable area, so they’re afraid during the beginning,” said Ms. Raharimanantsoa.
Nevertheless, the participants overcame these challenges. DP DHL became a supportive environment for these young people to practice their skills in the professional world and build confidence. Both Narindra and Phidelisse found that working in English and French speaking professional offices was initially a challenge, but found support from their mentors and surpassed their initial fears.
“In the beginning, the mentors taught me how to dispatch parcels and letters in a system, but the system was in English. I didn’t know English anymore [after his high school studies] and I was completely lost,” said Phidelisse. “But my mentor had guided me and reassured me that it’s easy to remember. He took half a day of his time to teach me the software even if he was busy. It was my first learning experience practicing English.”
Community Perspectives
It was not only DP DHL employees who were impressed with the SOS young people’s resilience and hard work; members of the local community developed a greater appreciation and respect of the young people as promising professionals.
“The community respects the SOS youth more and places a higher value on thei r skills because if DP DHL, an international and powerful company, recruits more SOS youth, it means that they are also intelligent and competent,” said Ms. Raharimanantsoa.
Corporate-NGO Partnership Innovation: Global Partnership, Local Ownership
The essence and success of the global partnership concept is the local ownership approach. In Madagascar, the National Association and Department of Youth Social Inclusion collaborate together to design educational and vocational programmes focused on the needs of young people in Madagascar.
The activities in Madagascar include:
- Professional mentoring and job exposure
- “Forum of Work” conference
- Internships which include a professional interview and internship report presentation
- Visit to the airport and various DP DHL entities, such as Express Easy
- Invitations to DP DHL special events, such as Volunteer Day and Family Day
For SOS young people in Madagascar, the programme connected them to opportunities and contacts within their local communities.
“The clients still remember me now when they meet me,” said Narindra about networking both within and outside DP DHL. “I no longer feel shy anymore to discuss something new with others.”
Deutsche Post DHL and SOS Children’s Village s Organizational Successes
GoTeach’s locally focused programming and partnership opened connections not only for SOS young people; it also fostered and unified the relationship between SOS Children’s Villages and Deutsche Post DHL on a local level.
Faneva Raharimanantsoa, the SOS Children’s Villages Madagascar Communications and Partnership Coordinator, is instrumental to the organisational success of the partnership. Unlike any other corporate partnership within GoTeach and SOS CV, Ms. Raharimanantsoa bridges both partners as the programme coordinator for DP DHL’s partnership.
Ms. Raharimantsoa’s proactive work on both sides of the partnership has led to exceptional organisation and communication between the two partners’ management and their benefic iaries.
“It was easy to be a part of the programme because SOS and DP DHL are like a same entity, because we always saw Miss Faneva at DHL’s office and it reassured me,” said Phidelisse on the partnership.
7.2.1.3 SWOT
Strengths
- Access to job opportunities, building skills and career guidance for SOS young people to successfully enter the professional world. In interviews with GoTeach alumni, each participant reported feeling more confident, empowered and informed about their career, regardless of their professional sector. This extensive programming not only places the young people in an active mentorship, but also exposes them to skills from public speaking to computer literary which are transferable to any profession.
- Supportive transition into financially independent, adult life . One of the greatest challenges facing SOS young people is transitioning from the SOS family home into independent adulthood. The job exposure, skills and mentorship building of the GoTeach partnership exceeds beyond providing SOS young people assistance. Rather, it focuses to build skills and empowerment for them to flourish in their adult professional and personal lives.
- Gained a long-term, international corporate partner with programmes in 22 countries. Madagascar began as a pilot country during the first year of the GoTeach partnership in 2011. The programme has since expanded from four pilot countries to 22 and growing countries across Africa, MENA, Latin America, and Asia. By the end of 2015, the partnership is planned to expand into five new countries, including the first GoTeach European partner country. Further, the partnership initiated and strengthened the relationship between SOS CV and DP DHL in Madagascar.
- Customised, locally targeted youth programmes and practices designed by the SOS CV National Association. In Madagascar and the other partnership countries, the local SOS CV offices develop and implement programmes based on local needs. As a result, national SOS CV and DP DHL offices cultivate the greatest impact for SOS young peoples’ career development and opportunities within their communities.
- SOS young people cultivated a positive reputation as professionals from their local communities and companies. In Madagascar, SOS young people faced tremendous obstacles to secure entry-level positions and internships due the stigma of not living with their biological families. Local businesses hesitated to hire SOS young people and required a letter of commitment signed by the Madagascar National Association. Within the business community in Madagascar, Deutsche Post DHL is regarded as a prestigious, global business leader. Consequently, the young peoples’ experience and association with Deutsche Post DHL elevated their reputations as promising young professionals.
Weaknesses
- Each SOS young person received DP DHL mentorship for only one year. This decision was made with the aim that all SOS young people would be given the opportunity to participate in the programme. However, many SOS young people requested additional mentoring and support in order to continue building upon their experience and skills.
Opportunities
- Model for prospective and current corporate partners within SOS Children’s Villages One of the greatest suggestions of the GoTeach programme from the Madagascar National Association was including additional local company partners. Within a small and intertwined business community such as Madagascar, companies are well connected to GoTeach’s success and are eager to contribute to SOS Children’s Villages.
- Additional Deutsche Post DHL-SOS CV Collaborations and Fundraising Opportunities Within less than five years of the initial GoTeach pilot, the partnership has expanded from four to 20+ countries and growing, including honours from Deutsche Post DHL CEO, Frank Appel, on the programme’s exceptional impact for Deutsche Post DHL employees and SOS young people alike. As the partnership and GoTeach alumni grow, there are many opportunities to further engage DP DHL in additional SOS Children’s Villages programmes and fundraising opportunities on a national level.
Threats
- None.
7.2.1.4 Open Questions for Future Programmes
- How can SOS Children’s Villages foster partnerships and resource sharing with current SOS CV corporate partners and National Associations?
- What can National Associations do to engage prospective partners with local SOS Children’s Villages fundraising and collaborations?
| Chapter lead | Martin Schmid |
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