SfCeNews
Volume III.  Issue 01.  January 31, 2002

Skills for Change (SfC) is a non-profit agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Our mandate is to "provide learning and training opportunities for immigrants and refugees so that they can participate in the workplace and wider community".
In this edition...
New Pioneers Awards Gala
SfC is Hiring
Computer & Language Courses Still Available
Filipino Immigrant Become Volunteer Mentor
DayTimer
Child's Cots - $10
Computer Hardware For Sale
New Pioneers Awards
10th. Anniversary Gala
Celebrating those who have gone first
and so prepared the way for others

 Thursday, March 21, 2002
Westin Harbour Castle

General Information

Ticket Sales
For additional information,
call 416 658-3101 x231

 Advertising
To place an ad,
call 416 658-3101 x231

 Silent Auction
Donations to our Silent Auction welcomed.
Call 416 658-3101 x208 or e-mail
SfC is Hiring
 
The Job Preparation for Internationally Trained Accountants and Bookkeepers (ITAB) program is designed for newcomers with experience accounting and bookkeeping.  This program will help the participants upgrade their technical and communication skills, become familiar with the Canadian accounting/bookkeeping systems, and enhance their ability to secure and retain employment in the accounting/bookkeeping fields. 

We are currently interviewing experienced instructors who can teach accounting, bookkeeping and various computer software applications. More>
Computer and Language
Courses Still Available
 
Seats are still available in our popular Accpac for Windows 4.2 course.  More>

 Steats are also still available in our daytime, evening and Saturday courses, including Microsoft FrontPage, keyboarding, medical terminology and Microsoft Excel. 
Filipino Immigrant
Becomes Volunteer Mentor
 
Volunteering is a wonderful way of sharing or giving of precious resources one possesses. In our Mentoring Program alone, there are over 100 active volunteers. By sharing their time and expertise, volunteer mentors shed light on the path to professional success for others. The following is the story of Jaime Gatawa, a volunteer mentor who gives as he received.

“I’m going to Canada,” I told my grandmother.

She didn’t have any idea how far that was from her village home in northern Philippines.

“Yes, my grandson, when will you leave?” Grandma asked – the same question she asked whenever I was transferred to another project.

“Next week,” I said. She might have sensed something, for she handed me four beads – two red and two yellow – from her necklace and said gently, “Take these. I have a feeling you’ll take too long.”

I’m an accountant. When I landed in Toronto on February 9, 1998, my first challenge was to earn a living. At Skills for Change, I burned with energy after the instructor showed us where to find jobs. The next day I didn’t waste anytime. I was on the streets from St. Clair to Union and from Dufferin to Don Mills.

I checked everything from newspapers to the yellow pages and used every electronic resource available. I smiled at every new acquaintance to make the connection SfC called “networking.” I devoured books like “On Becoming a Leader” and “The Power Within.” I read the lives of such greats as Booker T. Washington and Abraham Lincoln, who rose to consider the plight of the poor and other races.

In effect, I motivated myself – creating a sense of self-esteem and wellbeing. I thought I was ready to fight. In less than a month – and in a foreign land – I had a volunteer position with a company helping out during tax season.

Six days after starting as a volunteer, I was hired by Imperial Oil Limited.

I continue to burn with desire to move up and recapture the self I was in the Philippines. I have lost the two burning red beads my grandma gave me. But I still have two – remember? Both of them coloured glowing yellow.

I took them out one day to look at and, among the singing birds in the park – so full of life and vigour – I thought, “Can mortal people also fly? ”In memory, I scuttled back home to see my grandma’s lips, widened in the happiest smile, saying, “Why not, Grandson?”

If you are interested in supporting the Mentoring for Employment program, please contact Farida Zuberia at 416-658-3101, ext. 209
DayTimer
 for January 2002
 
January 15
Shabnum Budhwani attended a Train the Trainer workshop organized by the United Way.

January 18
Shabnum Budhwani attended the RSI-Practicalities and Politics/Prevention and Compensation workshop at the Constellation Hotel.

January 30
Canadian Society of Iranian Engineers and Architects-Mohandes held an information session at SfC.
Childs Cots
 
We have nine child's cots for purchase.  $10 each or best offer. Call 416 658-3101 x208
Computer Hardware For Sale
 
Surplus used computer hardware go on sale Saturday, February 23, in computer lab 7, from 10 am to 12 noon.  Open to the public. First come, fist served.  Quantities limited. All hardware sold strictly as is.  No refunds. Cash only. 

Nothing priced... just make you best offer!

Selection includes:  sound cards, hard drives, monitors, keyboards, mice, printer A/B/C switch box, printers, Intel printer servers, Pentium computers in tower case and one laptop (try out before you buy).
Changes
 
Welcome to...
· Moyuko Tomita, George Brown College work placement student
· Cynthia Boateng, George Brown College work placement student

 Goodbye and good luck to...
· Lisa James
· Lourdes Vicente
Acronym Soup

Confused? Don't be. Here's a list of our agency acronyms, what they mean and (where applicable) a link to the program web page.
 
CES - Clerical Employment Services
EAS - Employment Assistance Services
EPRS - Employment for Retail Services
ERC - Employment Resource Centre
FOAP - Finance & Office Assistant Program
IAT - Intake, Assessment and Training
JSC - Job Search Centre
JSW - Job Search Workshop
LINC - Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada
NPA - New Pioneers Awards
STIC - Sector Terminology Information & Counselling
Comments

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we would like to hear from you. More>
 

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Skills for Change
791 St. Clair Avenue West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada  M6C 1B8

A United Way member agency
 
Skills for Change is a
registered non-profit organization

Charitable registration #121471858RR0001
 
Telephone 416 658-3101 · Fax 416 658-6292