A huge congratulation to Amal Alsheemy who is the first recipient of the Mourra prize for her essay on the topic “to what level and how do you intend to integrate and/or assimilate into New Zealand society”. Amal migrated to New Zealand with her young family from Egypt in November last year and has found the Victoria University Skilled Migrants Programme has helped her integrate into working life in New Zealand. Before she enrolled on the programme, she had no way of knowing how to get her first break into employment in New Zealand. The programme gave her the confidence to understand the workplace in New Zealand particularly through her 6-week internship at the Ministry for the Environment. The course also taught her about the peculiarities of our English language, our culture, and our lifestyle.

Two such programmes are run by Victoria University each year, taking recently arrived migrants struggling to find work in their vocation due to language and cultural barriers, and helping them turn their lives around by providing work placements, assistance with their CVs and training in personal branding marketing on LinkedIn. This programme has been incredibly successful over the last 15 years with just over 80% of graduates now working in their desired career. The cost benefit analysis is phenomenal, for every $1 spent on the programme, New Zealand receives benefits to the value of $70. If you feel you can contribute to this programme through your voluntary time, provision of internships or making a financial contribution, please let us know.