International cooperation: Not just for specialists anymore!

By Myriam Fehmiu

On March 21, the CECI head office was buzzing. Luck Mervil, CECI’s sponsor, had invited the media and business community to the launch for Leave for Change. This innovative project is an international initiative that enables employees to volunteer for short-term (two to three-week) technical or professional support missions. Promoted by Uniterra, a program created by CECI and WUSC, it combines the expertise of people and businesses from here and abroad to drive social and economic advancement for villages, neighbourhoods and citizens in Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Some sixty representatives from the business and institutional community responded to the invitation. The response was unanimous: There is a need for Leave for Change, and it has a promising future. A trial Leave for Change last November won its first enthusiasts: five employees from the Ville de Montréal, Samson Bélair/Deloitte & Touche and Sahara Communications are returning from west Africa. They describe their experience thus: “I had seen international cooperation as something for people who had decided to go away for years or who could afford to go there and help without being paid. I didn’t have the resources to deprive my family of my paycheque and go off to save the world, but I'm a socially-committed kind of guy. This offer touched me deeply," confided Michel Arsenault, an office technology applications development technician for the City of Montréal.

The Leave for Change formula offers businesses the opportunity to play a concrete role in sustainable development in the South through a new concept in corporate support. This initiative enables effective promotion while cultivating a feeling of pride among employees. We were right: “Being a good corporate citizen has become an important motivating factor for employees in any organization. We found that Leave for Change can increase the mobilizing effect on employees tenfold, not to mention the organization’s image as a good corporate citizen. This project enables us to share our wealth with certain social groups, to work toward improving the planet’s overall condition. That’s why we didn’t hesitate to participate by freeing up our employees, defraying a portion of the costs related to sending participants abroad and making a financial contribution to the project through CECI,” remarked Mathieu Alarie, a human resources advisor with Abbott Laboratories.
About ten people will soon be leaving to participate in a 15-day mission to Malawi and Burkina Faso. A number of firms, including Samson Bélair/ Deloitte & Touche, Abbott Laboratories and the Ville de Montreal, are already backing Leave for Change. Uniterra is still seeking new partnerships with public and private organizations that care about being “good citizens”. International cooperation is not just for a small number of specialists anymore. Anyone can help combat poverty and marginalization. All you have to do is talk to your employer! Will you be the next person to volunteer with Leave for Change?
For information: clairem@ceci.ca