ORT Retraining Program in Argentina
The ORT Retraining Program in Argentina aims to help the local Jewish community cope with their country’s harsh economic reality by providing vocational training and skills necessary for them to find employment in the new economic environment they face. Many of Argentina’s Jews were left helpless in the face of a dramatically changed labor market. ORT’s retraining programs help them find employment, provide for their families and raise their living standards.
Argentina's Jewish community is predominantly middle class and therefore are those most severely affected by the economic crisis. Following widespread unemployment, many of them found that their previous jobs had not furnished them with transferable skills and they were therefore unable to find alternative sources of employment.
Four courses were designed by ORT to teach specific skills that would give the participants the best chance of gaining employment in new fields with the aim of helping the Argentinean Jewish community become a self-sufficient, self-providing community.
- Computer Networks
- Entrepreneurship, How to Create Your Own Enterprise
- Assembly and Maintenance of PC's
- Interactive Teaching Resources (Multimedia)
Classes are held weekly, over 20 weeks in 3-hour sessions. It is interesting to note that one of the ways potential participants are apprised of the class offerings, is through flyers that go home with their children from school.
Our Involvement
Hands On Tzedakah partnered with World ORT to sponsor one retraining course, specifically in the Assembly and Maintenance of PC's. The benefits of partnership allow HOT to take advantage of ORT's administrative infrastructure already in place in Argentina and HOT covers the direct costs of the class, expressly exclusive of any administrative expenses.
HOT has received positive feedback from both participants and teachers of the course. Each class costs $4,500 and retrains 20 workers. (Figuring a family of four) $4,500 will remove 80 people from the cycle of poverty.
Contact Information:
Harry Nadler, World ORT, 817 Broadway, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10003, Tel: (561) 852-5743, Email: handler@bellsouth.net, www.ort.org
