This past week, Annie Vial from Voces Vitales Panamá (VVPA) and Lourdes Navarro from Top Level Management interviewed several women wanting to participate in Voce Vitales Panamá’s Economic Mentoring Program.
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| Mentoring Walk in Argentina |
Mentoring programs are a staple of Vital Voices Global Partnership. It all began in 2006 when Fortune and the U.S. State Department launched the first Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership. The program matches top female business professionals with aspiring women leaders around the world. The mentor and mentee work strategically to improve their professional and personal lives.
Voces Vitales Panama’s Economic Mentoring Program will focus on the formation of emerging women leaders. Using modern methodologies, the program will provide participants with business training that focuses on entrepreneurship and innovation. The program also seeks to grow the participants’ business networks, and above all, to empower them and strengthen their self-confidence.
The first day of interviews was exciting – women from varying backgrounds arrived to fill out forms to participate in the program and grow their businesses. However, the day quickly became somber. Women began crying in the interviews because they were so filled with emotion. Tragic family stories surfaced involving drugs, robberies, and even domestic violence. It soon became apparent that some of these women came from very difficult backgrounds and faced great challenges every day. They felt passionately that participating in this program was their ‘big opportunity,’ which would allow them to improve their business and to give them and their family a better life.
The weight of what we were getting involved in began pressing down on me. How could we turn away any of these women? These brave women who are struggling to make one of their dreams a reality?
As a new NGO, we have to be selective in choosing the right participants for our program. Do we want to help disadvantaged women in Panamá? Yes. Do we have the capacity to help all the disadvantaged entrepreneurs that want to participate? Not yet.
Right now, VVPA is looking for a particular type of entrepreneur. Using several questionnaires and a personality test called DISC (it’s similar to the Meyers Briggs Test), we measure each woman’s level of entrepreneurship and determine whether or not they fit our profile. Using the results of the questionnaire and considering VVPA's and the mentors’ areas of expertise, we make a decision about the participant’s eligibility.
These methodologies are an important way to remain impartial towards the mentees and focused on the program goals. Without them, we might accept every woman that knocks on our door, overextend the program’s capacity, and inflict more harm than good on the participants and program.
The interviews were a small reminder to me of what it may be like for the men and women who work in the field of development. There are development workers on the ground facing challenges like these, and far worse, every day. I really admire their tireless efforts and their ability to remain focused under emotionally strenuous situations. Having the power to refuse aid to someone is difficult, and inhumane to some, but can it be avoided?
Yes, Julia. The responsability is overwhelming,.... But good things will come out of this first program and sooner than later we will be able to give a hand to more and more of those fabolous women.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to accept that whatever social services there are in any program in any country are limited, so not everyone who needs help will get it from every avenue they pursue. It's hard (sometimes it feels inhumane, cold, or impossible) to make qualifications for someone who is "worthy" of a service you're providing, because we all know everyone in need is completely worthy of quality help and care! But the reality is that resources are limited. Like you said, if your agency over-extended itself it would do more harm than good on the participants and program. It is hard to turn people away, or deny them, but the services your agency will provide will be so wonderful, valuable, and life-changing to those who receive it- even if they are of a limited number. We (individuals, social service agencies) can only do what we are capable of doing to help others.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to see how things progress! You rock!
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Katie