Meshwari is a project that has been the talk of the town among youths in Alexandria. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab writes on a successful initiative run by youth for youth "It was difficult for me to think of a good career after finishing college as my low academic profile and middle class status snatched all my confidence and made me suffer from inferiority complex for a long time," said Bassant Ibrahim, a 21-year-old graduate of Faculty of Commerce in Alexandria. "But a golden opportunity came to me while I was on Facebook when I knew about a career development course in Alexandria and amazingly it was for free and was going to take place soon. I thought it as a ray of hope for my career and it really was. The course was like a metamorphosis for me. I came out as a new Bassant, ready for the market just by knowing what I want to be and what my chances are." Ibrahim's social life was also below zero due to her shyness. Now after this course and another Life skills course offered, Ibrahim knew how to socialise, talk with people, write CVs and sit for job interviews. She also started to know her skills and plan for a career. "I never thought I'll be an accountant," said Ibrahim, "but after the course I found out that I loved the college that I graduated from and that I have special skills in the field and so I enrolled myself in a three-month course in accounting. I plan to work in a private accounting office to gain work experience then move to a big contracting company. I don't fear unemployment because I learnt that there are so many opportunities in the market and that jobs can be hunted. I don't need to focus on salary at the beginning. Youth have to change their perspective and attitudes in choosing their jobs and building their careers." Ibrahim was only one of the 25 lucky young male and female graduates and undergraduates who attended a career development course organised by the counselling centre of the Youth Association for Population and Development (YAPD) NGO in Alexandria. The counselling centre is part of the bigger project called "A Step Toward Our Future and Meshwari (My Journey)" implemented in partnership with UNICEF and Barclays Bank. There are nine similar counselling centres throughout Egypt but Alexandria's branch was the most effective of all. Three young fresh graduates, Aya El-Dighadi, Ahmed Mustafa and Insaf Ibrahim, ran the counselling centre in Alexandria 10 months ago and made a splash of success in the north coast city. "Meshwari project aims at helping youth identify their skills and special talents, enhance their marketability and help them find careers with clarity, confidence and wisdom," said El-Dighadi, a 22-year-old psychologist. "Target groups are 13-18 years old and 18-24 years old. The project has different components that serve these target groups, one of which is the counselling centre. It started as psychological counselling for young people, and then its focus began mainly to be on career development." The three musketeers found it non-effective and fruitless when they did four-day experimental workshops at schools and colleges in the first three months of the initiation of the counselling centre in Alexandria. Then, as part of Meshwari project, the three volunteers were chosen by the UNICEF to attend a Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF) training course of $1,950 for free conducted by Engineer Ahmed Mustafa, one of the rare certified facilitators in the Arab world. "The 12-day course changed our lives," said El-Dighadi, "we learnt how to plan right, set goals, think positively and make a U-turn in youth thinking. We sat down together and planned a one-month workshop of three levels to train 25 youth on career planning and how to make successful career decisions... and by far it was successful. "It took us time to decide on the scientific material, translate data needed and prepare the toolkits. Then we marketed ourselves on Facebook and universities. We did some awareness sessions and then held career exploration events presented by specialists in the certain fields in the job market in Egypt. Then we started our course that ended in September." Ayman Ismail, a 19-year-old undergraduate, attended the course. "I was nobody before attending the workshop but then I got really motivated and capable of doing the effort needed to succeed in life." The course was divided into three levels. "Level one," said Ismail, "took 20 hours discussing how to discover your career personality. We learnt the career development cycle; we knew our skills, interests, personality, and work and lifestyle values. It was amazing to know that the average person has 1,341 skills out of a total of 4,341 skills. This means we are talented, not dumb youth as others think of us." "Level two," said Ahmed Mustafa, a 22- year-old psychologist and trainer, "took 20 hours discussing how to plan your career. We helped them make choices, understand the decision-making process, set goals, develop a plan and put it into action." Ismail recalled a bitter moment when he was asked to set a goal. "I didn't know what I want to do so I stole the same goal of the colleague before me. I felt really ashamed of myself at that moment. But thanks to the young trainers who helped me set a goal." The third level took 20 hours also discussing job hunting strategies. "We introduced to them the importance of networking and contacts," said Mustafa, "We taught them how to write a resume, a cover letter and their CVs, and how to sit for an interview and make a career transition." Such achievement took the three musketeers from just awareness sessions to direct impact. They made a diversity study for the community, a sustainability plan for the centre and they are in the process of making a career planning workshop handbook to be used by all governorates. "We learnt that success is not just the result of sincere effort but it became a way to a destination," said El-Dighadi. "Of course we had some opposition from our parents when we used to come late at night, take little money, and look tired from work. They still don't understand why we are volunteering in this project. They want us to work, get good salary and marry. But we are satisfied with what we are doing. We got a volunteer opportunity that will end up in a rock solid experience." Although the three staff of the counselling centres are young graduates with minimum experience teaching fresh graduates and undergraduates, yet they were more successful than lecturers and professors at universities. "They understand us more than older trainers," said Ismail, "they make us talk ourselves without criticism. There are no barriers in language and thought between us. They made the group a big team of close friends although they didn't know each other before. "I was really happy to get this chance," said Bassant, "and if I have to regret doing something, I regret joining such course late after graduation. If it has been available for me before college or even during college, I would have better qualified myself and chosen a career destination on ground thinking. I hope it is repeated for all the youth not only in Alexandria but all over Egypt. It is something important to strengthen our weak education and to be better employees." Meshwari, a funded course by UNICEF, gave the three young trainers a chance to start smart and they in return passed on their knowledge to other young and optimistic youth to start early, start smart.
