SERIAL volunteer Jim Ferguson from Dun Laoghaire will begin his third overseas placement with international development organisation VSO Ireland later this month when he arrives into the south-eastern African country of Mozambique.
Jim, who previously spent two years in Sierra Leone in the early 1970s and a year in Ethiopia from 2012 to 2013, will work as an Organisational Development Advisor with the Education for All Movement (MEPT) based in the capital city of Maputo.
Much progress has been made in education provision in Mozambique since the civil war in the early 1990s.
Since 2003, primary enrolment has increased from 69 per cent to almost 100 per cent.
While this is a welcome improvement, many challenges remain especially in terms of providing quality education.
Jim’s role in Mozambique will be to work with MEPT to increase its education partners’ capacity to provide quality education services for children and to ensure that teachers have the skills needed to provide child-friendly education.
Jim previously worked as a senior manager in the NQAI – the Qualifications and Quality Assurance Authority of Ireland -before spending a year in Ethiopia with VSO working as an Advisor to the Ethiopian Ministry of Education.
“I am so excited to be going volunteering with VSO again,
? Jim said.
“It’s an organisation that makes real and sustainable change in the fields of education and health and event after retirement.
“VSO enables me to keep on using my skills and experiences.
“I would really advise people to think seriously about volunteering with VSO,
? he added.
“It’s a challenge of a lifetime that has made me a better professional and a better person.
?
Gerry Thompson, interim Executive Director, VSO Ireland, said the work that Jim is doing with MEPT will ensure that future generations of Mozambuqeuan children have the opportunity to avail of a quality education.
“We know, from experience, that when a child receives a quality education they have a better chance of lifting themselves out of poverty,
? he said.
VSO is an international development organisation that works through volunteers to fight poverty.
Working in over 30 countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, VSO volunteers commit to spending 12 months living and working with marginalised communities to help lift them out of poverty.
VSO is currently recruiting experienced teachers, principals, nurses and doctors for departure in late 2014 and early 2015.