ABOUT
OUR
APPROACH
The Mega Mergers Program, its facilitators and partners intend to expand employment opportunities for at risk youth and low income youths ages 14 to 20 through offering a apprenticeship training that boost environmental consciousness, teaches business development and key skills development that can be used to generate immediate income on a shoe string budget.
In the past we have been mobilised by The Ministry Of Youth and also supported by The Organisation of American States (OAS ) Bahamas Chapter. To ensure the effectiveness of our program we have partnered with civic organisations, companies and individuals that share our vision. This program is focused mainly on developing communication and interpersonal skills amongst at risk youth. Through these partnerships we have instituted a cross curricular teaching effort that will ensure that all youths involve the programs benefit from resources available and are given multiple perspectives on single subjects so as to reinforce what they have learnt on various levels.
TRAINING
COMPONENT
Our training component is twofold. At the beginning of the Mega Mergers course, students select a furniture and/or accessory project to complete using wooden pallets or used tyres. Throughout the program they were taught to design their projects from concept to assembly. They will also be taught to retrieve reusable discarded materials to incorporate into their designs. Once the course and projects were completed the students project was placed for sale in an expo setting. All proceeds from those sales are remitted to the student/students who designed and completed the projects.
The second component of Mega Mergers training involves entrepreneurial skills development. Through the use of videos, work sheets, presentations and mind sharpening exercises, all students were taught to change their view of money and its purpose, how to develop a product for market and how to assess prospective clientele.
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MENTORING
COMPONENT
In an effort to encourage the apprentices to think like entrepreneurs four out of the box mentors were brought in to assist the students with learning various processes. For example, rather than bringing in a bag designer to teach how to create a bag , we brought in an Architect that taught them about aesthetics, how to create symmetry when designing and how to identify the numerous disciplines that are required to successfully complete their product to a consumable standard.
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The mentors choosen fell into the following catagory:
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1. Serial Entrepreneur -Someone who has failed at many businesses and succeeded as well.
2. Legacy Entrepreneur - Someone who has received the baton for their business from a previous generation and has kept the spirit alive.
3. Newbie Entrepreneur – Someone who is still going through the process of developing their brand.
4. Unexpected Entrepreneur – Someone who does not fit the mole of what many think an entrepreneur should be.
The second component was that of peer mentoring. Once the program got underway the response was much greater than was initially expected. MMA worked in conjunction with The My Sisters and Brothers Keeper Summer Program and the Southern Police StationSummer Camp in an effort the meet the unexpected demand. Apprentices, ages 14 to 18 that showed a strong understanding of various concepts were paired with campers between the ages of 5 to 13 and they were able to impart their knowledge to these youngsters.
