The Business Software Centre Staff to do six weeks volunteer work in Kenya

May 7, 2015 - PRLog -- The Business Software Centre (TBSC) staff, Qui Mai, has won place on a programme designed to help breathe life into fledgling businesses in one of Africa’s poorest regions. Qui Mai Vietnam will spend six weeks working for the charity Balloon Kenya (http://www.balloonkenya.com/) this summer.

Qui Mai is midway through her two-year MBA course at Portsmouth University, taking a placement year as Project Manager in The Business Software Centre. Qui Mai was selected as one of three people in a competition to find the best people to help social entrepreneurs in Kenya set up their own businesses.  Portsmouth Business School is funding half of the basic trip costs for all three as part of a sponsored programme encouraging students to develop socially responsible business skills outside of the classroom.

Balloon Kenya is a charity which aims to build long-term economic and social growth by introducing bright entrepreneurial young people from around the world to local would-be entrepreneurs in Kenya. The international teams work on projects side by side for six weeks to test and refine ideas which could have long-term impact for entire communities.

When the six weeks of testing the ideas and refining them is up, the charity then funds the best projects to help them grow and be sustained by local residents, providing them employment and new opportunities.

The three students all went through a rigorous vetting process managed by Portsmouth Business School’s enterprise and employability coordinator, Karen Knibbs, alongside Josh Bicknell, of Balloon Kenya, and second year business enterprise degree student Vincent Pericard.  Their entrepreneurial ideas, previous experience and personal stories were what compelled the panel to choose Joshua, Ed and Qui.

Qui is passionate about wanting to help eradicate poverty and illiteracy and says she learned resilience at an early age, when her parents left the small town in Vietnam where their business had gone bankrupt to set up elsewhere, leaving Qui, then aged 12, behind on her own.

She said: “I had to manage and operate on my own without any care from parents or relatives while all around me my friends enjoyed their childhood.

“I had to learn how to cope and I quickly saw that education and hard work are the only real way out. I am passionate about wanting to help others overcome similar or their own limitations.”

Resilience was one of the keys for the charity in recruiting volunteers and a key factor in considering the applicants.

Phil Hames, Managing Director of TBSC commented “We are pleased to support Qui in helping young entrepreneurs in Kenya. She is a talented and committed business person who can contribute greatly.”