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Motivational instructor Mohammed Al Motawah is determined to help inspire young Bahrainis to put their talents to the test in the world of business and economics.
He is part of the inJAz Bahrain team which is supported by volunteers offering their time, energy and talent to inspire tomorrow's leaders and entrepreneurs.
Based at the Bahrain Training Institute, Mohammed, 30, from Isa Town, believes it is vitally important to prepare his students for the harsh realities and the exciting possibilities on offer in the workplace.
He said: "I was a volunteer with inJAz Bahrain before becoming an instructor. I had just completed my Masters in the UK and wanted to do something meaningful and give something back to the community."
Fortunately he came across inJAz Bahrain, an international non-profit organisation established to provide young people with the knowledge, skills, tools and hands-on experience they need when seeking employment and careers.
"That's when I realised," he explained, "that to make a positive change in society you first have to make an impact on the younger generation."
Set up by Shaikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Khalifa, inJAz Bahrain aims to help bring the kingdom into the global arena of financial and social development. Driven by the private sector to educate and inspire young people, inJAz Bahrain's core mission is to infuse 'entrepreneurial thinking in the hearts and minds of young people'.
She said: "A young person can easily be inspired if he or she is provided with the right environment and motivation for success. It is within every one of us to strive for success.
"However, the foundation for success relies on three strong pillars of support: motivation, encouragement and inspiration.
"inJAz Bahrain was founded with this vision, and since its inception in January 2005, it has reached out to more and more students every year with the help of volunteers from the local business community."
InJAz Bahrain - meaning achievement - encourages local workers to be involved in the classroom as volunteers and board members.
Mohammed joined inJAz Bahrain in 2006 and said: "I feel that I am not just teaching the course, I am learning from it and from the students. Our children are brilliant, they just need guidance."
Companies such as Ernest & Young, Alba, Bapco, BBK, and BTI have all played a role in the success of inJAz Bahrain. Mohammed told GulfWeekly that most of the volunteers are from various sectors including engineers, secretaries, purchasing office workers, operators and so on.
He said: "Many sectors supporting inJAz are here for different reasons. Some want to change the mentality of the students about working in the private sector, while others want to help improve the interpersonal skills of the students.
"After I joined I recruited more volunteers from the Bahrain Training Institute and am still looking for bright individuals that have the time to lend a helping hand."
The organisation has carefully designed programmes ranging from teaching intermediate students about the importance of financial enterprise and savings; to inspiring high school students by helping them start small companies.
Economics, ethics, marketing and other business topics are taught by volunteers from the private sector to enrich the programme content with 'real world experiences and knowledge'.
"The main course is called success skills, which many of the secondary school students use and find very interesting," said Mohammed. "We teach them what work ethics are and how to deal with issues within a working environment.
"We teach them how to improve themselves and how to write resumes and search for jobs. This is mostly used on first year secondary students up to third year secondary students -16- 18 year olds.
"We know that most of them will be going on to university after they graduate so we basically prepare them for what's to come after they are done," he added.
Programmes at inJAz Bahrain also offer students the change to witness banks and businesses in action by offering job shadow days, for example.
There are a number of ways to get involved with inJAz Bahrain by becoming a classroom volunteer or by simply making a donation or pledge of support.
Mohammed said: "We are working to better our kids and we need all the help we can get."
Visit www.injazbah.org for more details.
