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Issue 4, January 2008

by Emily Marks — last modified 2008-01-28 22:10

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FEATURED INTERN
Teklu Kelelachew - Ethiopian Intern
Teklu Kelelachew
DOT Ethiopia ReachUp! Intern

"I hope to...work for a software developing company to gain more experience in the field before starting my own business specialising in web development and networking."

Learn more about Teklu...

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THANK YOU!
Interns
DOT would like to thank the Cisco Systems Foundation, CIDA and USAID for thier continuing support and investment in our work. 

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FEATURED PROJECT
Vinson Sullivan - DOT USA Intern
Website Development Success Story
DOT USA TeachUp! Project

"To be honest, being a part of the program alone is a success story.  No matter what your part was in this Internship you had an opportunity to make a difference."

Click here to learn more about Vinson Sullivan and his project...

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QUOTE OF THE MONTH

 "The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going."
- Anonymous

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FEATURED PARTNER
NairoBits - Kenyan Partner
NAIROBITS TRUST

NairoBits is a DOT Kenya partner providing a training venue and participants for the ReachUp! programme.

Learn more about our partner...

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NEWSLETTERS

Bisrat Newsletters
Tangaza Newsletters

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OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
Issue #4 - January 2008
'Special New Year's Edition'
  The Future of Tomorrow Lies in Investment
in our Youth Today

Our best wishes to all in the DOT global network for a peaceful and prosperous New Year. In this issue of 'Opportunity Knocks', the electronic newsletter of Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT), we would like to pay tribute to the hundreds of DOT Interns throughout the world who have, over the past six years, made transformational leadership contributions in their own communities and countries.

DOT's programs are created to reach out to many areas of the world and harness the ability, creativity, and dynamism of local youth who in turn inspire local social and economic development.  DOT's approach is to recruit and train national teams of university and college graduates (young leaders) from partner countries to become ICT specialists. We teach them about leadership, project management, facilitation, communication, teamwork and technology.

These young leaders then set out into their home schools and communities, under a 1-3 year paid work experience, where they share and transfer their knowledge through practical projects that respond to local needs and opportunities. DOT provides these emerging specialists with a purpose, experience and path to become their country's technology champions. The product is both the quantitative outputs of a train-the-trainer approach, and - perhaps more importantly - the impact of deep and lasting development that takes root close to home for all involved.

Many of these young leaders face a number of challenges within their own communities:  high unemployment and underemployment rates, urban/rural migration, and out-of-country migration.  Some areas are also adapting to recent economic transformation; many have experienced conflict and the devastating effects of natural disasters.

The DOT Interns have risen to the challenges faced in their countries with a passion for making a difference.  Whether it is Interns in Lebanon who have continued to work with small enterprises in both the southern and northern parts of the country since 2003 to foster local economic development, or Interns in Kenya who have persevered, in spite of the recent violence in their country, and are working closely with us to expand the DOT Kenya program beyond Nairobi and into the western region so that we can assist thousands of unemployed young people to create better lives for themselves.

These young and dynamic Interns continue on to become contributing and productive members of their local workforce - securing employment with the private and public sectors, establishing their own businesses or following a path to work in the nonprofit and development sector.

It is this vibrant vision of hope and positive change that all of us at DOT hold high for this coming year and beyond - that of a globally mobilized team of talented young people who have seized the opportunity to give back to their communities in a meaningful way.  Each and every one of them, and the hundreds more who will join the DOT network in the years ahead, are helping to fast track the social, economic and democratic development in developing countries. They are collaborating and working in very innovative ways to truly assist these countries to enter into a new age of real progress in education, health and prosperity.

We congratulate all of you and thank you for your immense contribution to making our world a better place.

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 Message to Our Readers

Thank you for your ongoing support and contributions to the success of Digital Opportunity Trust.

This year, 'Opportunity Knocks' will offer even more in order to keep you well informed about what we are doing and the inspiring changes that are happening in our world.  Adding to our monthly profile showcase, we will be sharing our Intern Alumni profiles with you as part of our new and exciting Intern Alumni program.  We will also be launching our online donation campaign so that you have the opportunity to further contribute to the impact that DOT is making.

If you would like to share your feedback, or if you are a DOT Intern or alumnus and would like to share your success story, please contact me.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Emily 
  Sincerely,
  Emily Marks, Newsletter Editor

  email: newsletter@dotrust.org
  website: www.dotrust.org