ZWOT - Making things happen
by Sajitha PREMATUNGE
Zig Ziglar once said that a lot of people have gone further than they
thought they could because someone's else thought they could. This is
all about mentorship and how willing the mentees are to learn from them.
This is exactly what the Zonta Club III of Colombo intends to do with 'Zonta
Women of Tomorrow' (ZWOT), their mentorship programme. With this
programme they hope to enhance the employability and professional skills
of young Sri Lankan women.
| Indika
Arulingam, undergraduate of the University of Colombo
selected for the ZWOT program, said that all students suffer
from uncertainty. "From Grade one to thirteen it's all a
game of hopscotch, jumping from one grade to the next. You
don't give much thought to what you want to become in the
future." |
Chief guest of the ZWOT inauguration programme - Rt. Rev. Oswald
Gomes, Arch Bishop of Colombo and Vice Chancellor to University of
Colombo pointed out that 'Zonta' stands for honesty and trustworthiness,
two of the very necessary virtues that are sadly lacking in today's
society and expressed his gratitude for Zonta in trying to achieve
instilling these qualities in the young generation.
Founded in 1919, Zonta International is made of professional women
volunteers dedicated to furthering women's education, leadership and
youth development. In Sri Lanka Zonta works through three clubs, one in
Kandy and two in Colombo.
Fifteen vibrant young undergraduates with proven leadership skills
have been selected for the ZWOT programme. Zonta Club III believes that
the training and guidance they will be provided will help them to enter
the corporate world with confidence. Women leaders of the corporate
world will guide these young women over a period of one year at no cost,
on how to improve their professional etiquette and their interpersonal
relationships. They will also be given opportunities to build their
image.
Indika Arulingam, undergraduate of the University of Colombo selected
for the ZWOT programme, said that all students suffer from uncertainty.
"From Grade one to thirteen it's all a game of hopscotch, jumping from
one grade to the next. You don't give much thought to what you want to
become in the future." She further explained that students who opt to
study in the science stream abandon it half way to work in call centres
and Arts graduates end up working in banks. They end up doing things
they have learned nothing about. It's completely alien territory. "It's
like being in the arctic with a straw hat and plenty of sun block to
spare."
As Indika said the major disadvantage that graduates face today is
that they are clueless as to what the corporate world expects of them.
Some of Sri Lanka's top corporate world leaders have been called upon to
shed light on the issue.
This programme will include a career guidance workshop conducted by
the head of HR at McLarence, Chiranthi Paranagamanage and a leadership
training programme to enhance and instill team spirit in the young
undergraduates. Moreover ZWOT attempts to provide mentorship while
instilling leadership, voluntaryism - through engaging them in community
work - and networking skills in the undergraduates.
The undergraduates will meet with the mentors every other month and
on alternate months they are scheduled to meet with members of the Club.
Dhanushi Thamali probably put ZWOT's efforts best when she said
"There are two types of people in the world. People who wait for things
to happen and people who make things happen." And it looks like ZWOT is
doing exactly that - making things happen.
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