Leading up to the graduation of NetHope Academy Haiti's second class next week, we will be featuring a series of "Where Are They Now?" stories featuring NetHope Academy interns that graduated from the inaugural Haiti class last year. We will also feature a profile from a soon-to-be graduated intern in conclusion of our series. Our first narrative comes from Paul Junior Jean-Marie:
I am the only IT resource for J/P Haitian Relief Organization (J/P HRO). Since the 2010 earthquake, J/P HRO has provided medical services, removed rubble, managed internal displaced person camps and distributed food and water systems in Haiti. In my position, I have many responsibilities: Working the help desk, being the network administrator, training, and doing administrative tasks like giving reports and creating the annual IT budget. I provide support to many people, even if they call me on the weekend or late at night; I always help them with a smile.
At J/P HRO there are about 300 employees, and I work with about 20 people in the main office as well as volunteers at the guest house. Sometimes it is hard for me to support all the employees at the same time; I might confront a problem for the first time, and even if I do not know the answer, I must find the solution and provide it quickly. It can be very hard work, but I like challenges and am becoming more efficient in solving problems.
NetHope Academy helped me so much in the work I do today. The customer courses helped prepare me for work with many employees, and the network courses and trainings helped me with my day-to-day work. I also was able to greatly improve my English in NetHope Academy because all of the courses were taught in English. In the beginning, sometimes I did not understand what the trainers were saying because I did not know the words and they spoke fast. But, I made it through the two-week boot camp ready for my internship with Relief International.
I did not always know I wanted to have a career in technology. It was only until I spoke with a family friend who was an electronic engineer that I realized that I had the power to chose my future, and that if I chose an IT career, I would have a chance to make a big difference in the world. I am so thankful for the opportunities to learn given by NetHope Academy. NetHope Academy teaches its students skills and helps them get an internship, which helps when applying for jobs. It is very hard for someone to get a job with an enterprise without prior experience.
When I interviewed with J/P HRO, I dressed according to what I learned in one of my NetHope Academy courses. The position required someone who knew about Apple technologies, so I prepared myself by reading online and watching video tutorials. I did my best, and the interviewer was interested in my skills from NetHope Academy and the knowledge about Macs that I had learned in a few days.
Today, I am happy to say that I was selected as the J/P HRO ‘Employee of the Year’ for 2011. I was also ‘Employee of the Month’ in September 2011. These awards show me that J/P HRO appreciates my work. I hope future NetHope Academy interns know that if they do something they love, if they consider their work a pleasure, and they put all of themselves into it, they will have success.
Also, find out what fellow classmate Emmanuella Stimphat is doing one year later in the next installment of 'Where are they now?'. Read it now ››
