A young woman in Ghana sees a magazine cover. She sees Iman in a business suit, and it inspires her to be a strong woman like her. But she knows her family can’t afford to send her to train as a seamstress. This is where the power of OIC International begins.

This young woman wants to study textiles and sewing and maybe even own her own small sewing business. She’s dreaming big. She even dreams of sewing for the next inspiring African supermodel. But she can’t without your help.

Put power in her hands right now. In Ghana, our trainees in our textiles classes learn to make beautiful, quality clothes. Literally $100 helps us provide a sewing machine and sewing classes for a young woman to help her provide for herself and for her family. Imagine giving this gift of power.

Help us help her dream big.

Sincerely,

Cripsian Kirk

OIC International Acknowledges World AIDS Day

Washington, DC—OIC International would like to acknowledge World AIDS Day on the 30th year of the official discovery of HIV/AIDS. OIC International marks this important milestone and celebrates the contributions of corporate leaders, individuals and communities supporting the movement to eliminate HIV/AIDS throughout the world.

“As an organization that believes in self-reliance it is critically important that we remain vigilant in educating communities about the HIV/AIDS epidemic” said Crispian Kirk, President and CEO of OIC International.
OIC International’s Health, Nutrition & HIV/AIDS programs provide health education and palliative care to ensure that individuals and communities have the knowledge and resources to lead healthy lives. OIC International operates in the areas of health skills, maternal and child health and nutrition, family planning, adolescent reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. In particular, we emphasize service to at-risk populations, such as orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIVs).

Today, in honor of World AIDS Day, OIC International supports this year’s theme, “Getting to Zero,” which runs until 2015 and calls upon leaders, communities, parents, people living with HIV and young people to look forward and work towards a world with Zero new HIV infections, Zero discrimination and Zero AIDS-related deaths.

Opportunities Industrialization Centers International (OIC International) is a non-profit organization with a mission to build self-reliance and entrepreneurship through technical and vocational skills development

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OIC International plays an important role in the Salman Community by providing assistance to Adamus Resources’ Vulnerable Assistance Programme.

Accra, Ghana – Opportunities Industrialisation Centre (OIC) International is pleased announced its participation in the Vulnerable Assistance Programme in Salman Community in the Ellembelle District in the Western region, Ghana. The Programme, an initiative related to the work of Adamus Resources’ Nzema Gold Project, is now underway. During implementation the programme will seek to address the most vulnerable in the community by providing technical assistance in agricultural and microenterprise development.

“We are hopeful that the role that OIC International will play in providing technical skills will allow those most vulnerable in the community to lift themselves into a position of positive sustainable livelihoods,” said Leon Sakho, Regional Director for Africa and Ghana Country Representative of OIC International, “By working within our communities for the past 40 years, OIC International is able to step up when the marginalized in the community are in need.”

The Nzema Gold Project is located in south-western Ghana, approximately 280km west of Ghana’s capital city of Accra. The Project consists of a contiguous block of Adamus tenements and options covering approximately 665 square kilometres, accessible via 80km of sealed roads from the major port city of Takoradi and in close proximity to the major mining centre at Tarkwa.

Established in 1971, OIC Ghana provides training in vocational skills and offers counseling, job-placement, and follow-up services to disadvantaged, unskilled, and unemployed Ghanaian youth. OIC Ghana is a nationally recognized organization operating in the Greater Accra Region, the Western Region, the Ashanti Region, Eastern Region, Northern Region and Brong Ahalfo Region.

Media inquiries can be directed to Rashida Petersen at rpetersen@oici.org.

Opportunities Industrialization Centers International (OIC International) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since 1970, OIC International has trained socially and economically underprivileged women, men and youth in the skills they need to transform their lives and their communities

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Started in 1996 and supported by Zimbabwe OIC’s Business Development Services program, the Tagona Peanut Butter Factory is a thriving business that, as Pindayi states, is “pushing to solve issues of poverty as a female-run, community-based program.” In a country with a crippling 95% unemployment rate—where most of the general population makes less than 60 US cents a day—the Tagona Peanut Butter Factory is revitalizing its community. In addition to selling peanut butter wholesale, the factory has contracts with local hospitals and schools. It provides the women with a viable business, local services with nutritious foods, and members of the community with employment at the factory.

For Pindayi and her colleagues, the profits from their business help keep their children in schools and their homes in order. For farmers, the presence of a local factory allows them to sell their groundnuts at a competitive price year-round. For the entire community, who came together to build the factory and support their wives, sisters, mothers and daughters, the factory has provided employment and strengthened community bonds.

OIC International believes in sustainable, community-based change. The Tagona Peanut Butter Factory is an example of how a community can be transformed when individuals become self-reliant. You can learn more about Pindayi and the Tagona Peanut Butter Factory in our upcoming short documentary series, and to find out more about OIC International’s programs, visit www.oici.org.

Sincerely,

Your OICI International Team

In 2010, OIC International President & CEO, Crispian Kirk, and a group of OICI team members spent four weeks in Africa with a camera crew and filmmakers. Their mission was to capture the OIC International story: who are the people behind the projects? Who is OIC International?

The people they encountered and the stories they brought back were truly breathtaking. From the remarkable perseverance of Sam Boateng in Samsam, Ghana, to the spirit of Pindavi Chiduwa and the women of the Tagona Peanut Butter Factory in Zimbabwe, the stories they were told spoke of endurance and strength, compassion and commitment.

The unifying message of everyone they met was: Tell our stories. Tell what we’ve been through, what we’ve accomplished—and how OIC International has helped.

These faces, these stories, these people are OIC International.

In the upcoming weeks, we’ll be sharing their stories with you and soon, you’ll be able to see them yourselves with the release of the incredible footage Cris and his crew caught.

Keep an eye out—these are stories you have to hear.

Sincerely,
OIC International

“The war has caused many people currently [to be] displaced throughout the country. Currently just for the city of Bouake where OIC-Côte d’Ivoire is located, we [have] registered more than 15,000 people displaced by war. These people have all abandoned [their homes] and in their flight[,] came to seek refuge in Bouake. With the help of local authorities and NGOs we are currently register[ing] them in an [effort] to help them. For now, their needs are mainly in food, clothing, and other basic necessities.”

As many of you no doubt know, Côte d’Ivoire has been embroiled in a long and costly political crisis. Despite the capture of president incumbent Laurent Gbagbo by Alassane Ouattara’s forces, the humanitarian and economic impact from this month of violence will only get worse. During the months of the political impasse, nearly one million Ivoirians have been displaced with hundreds of thousands fleeing to neighboring countries. Côte d’Ivoire, whose poverty level has gone from 10% in 1985 to nearly 43% in 2008 according to the World Bank, will endure struggles long after the eyes of the international media and community have turned away.

OIC International, however, has been working in the country since 1986, and we will continue our tireless efforts to help Ivoirians surmount the current crisis and to flourish in the future. We are working closely with the UNDP to support displaced persons, through a new priority implementation area for the city of Bouake, called early recovery, which seeks to “identify projects to revenue initiatives that can enable people displaced by war to take charge themselves.”

We will keep you updated on the struggles in Côte d’Ivoire as well as the recovery efforts by OIC-Côte d’Ivoire.

Thank you for your continued support. To make a donation to support our work in Côte d’Ivoire and other OIC International initiatives, visit oicinternational.org.

Sincerely

Your OIC International team