Tricia Chirumbole Financial Management Intern [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]
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	Tricia and Carolyn observe as Matilda teaches a workshop they developed on bookkeeping.
		Description: (Cape Coast, Ghana. Jul – Sep 2006) The women of the Global Mamas Cooperative spend a great deal of time creating high quality, fair trade products for export. In addition to these income-generating activities that directly alleviate poverty, it is also important for the women to build their business skills in order to successfully manage their growing businesses. Some women in the Cooperative were familiar with bookkeeping tactics, but had gaps in recording their financial data, while new members of the Cooperative did not have knowledge about the principles and benefits of bookkeeping. Accomplishments: Tricia helped to kick start WIP's Capacity Building program by: Creating a bookkeeping curriculum with teacher's notes, assisted in implementation of basic bookkeeping workshop for identified WIP clients. Holding several bookkeeping workshops with all the members of the Global Mamas Cooperative—a refresher course for those keeping records in the past and a bookkeeping basics workshop for those learning financial management for the first time. Structuring an outline for the nature and timeframe of an ongoing bookkeeping program that involves more advanced workshops. Facilitating one-on-one follow up sessions with Matilda, WIP's employee being trained to oversee WIP's Capacity Building program. Devising a schedule for the women to drop off their records with Matilda for review and future entry of the data into QuickBooks. Highlights: The most satisfying part of Tricia's stay in Ghana was becoming friends with some of the employees, volunteers, and area residents. "I got the opportunity to fulfill a dream—to live amidst a starkly different culture, and find that I loved it! I am dedicated to living a life in search of innovations to development and social progress and it was wonderful to be a part of an organization like Global Mamas whose model, mission, and management I admire greatly." close window