When the Mega Mergers Apprenticeship Program was launched in the summer of 2015 we set up shop at the Stephen Dillet Primary School in Bain and Grants Town. It was our intention to run a short four-week program and engage no more than 40 youths for the duration of that time. However, once sessions got underway it became immediately clear that those parameters needed to be expanded.  In total we accepted youths of all ages for a period of 8 weeks. This extension allowed us to offer service to some 275 youths.

 

At the end of the summer session 8 students remained in the program and continued their training for an additional 4 weeks. Of the eight that remained, 2 apprentices have continued their skills development regiment under the tutelage of Ms. Marshall and are preparing to serve as facilitators in the 2016 Mega Mergers Apprenticeship Program Summer Session.

 

The first few weeks of the Mega Mergers Apprenticeship Program brought about many interesting questions. The most important of which was, “how do you get a generation of young people that are totally disconnected from each other and their environment, to plug in and contribute to the world around them?”  Upon interacting with the youths within the first week it was discovered that most of them lacked basic social skills and had a very hard time communicating their thoughts. It was also discovered that even the language which they use within their social circles was not clear even to them, which often led to misunderstandings and eventually acts of aggression towards each other.

 

With this stumbling block to progress being recognized early on, the core concentration for the first few weeks of the program became less about direct introduction to business principles and product development and more about developing social sensitivity amongst the youth. It took 3 weeks to break through those barriers to learning before the real work of teaching how to start a business could truly begin.

 

By week 4 all youths enrolled in the program were excited to learn about starting their own business and learning how to make great products out of recyclable materials. At the end of week 6 all students that had completed a product for sale attended the program mini expo at Doongalik Studios on Village Rd.  and over the following 2 weeks continued to create products and return to Doongalik Studios to sell them.