PSYCHED about SIFE

Here is a brief outline of my Students In Free Enterprise Global Internship in Mumbai, India:

* 2-3 days each week I will be working with Mrs Shaila Naik, one of the leaders in entrepreneurship education in India. She has developing a curriculum for enterprise education for STD 5th & 6th. (grades 5 and 6). I will be part of a team trained to deliver these entrepreneurship training/activities to young students in various schools in Mumbai.
* The other days in the week, I will be serving as SIFE program coordinator working under the direction of the SIFE India Country Director. New SIFE Teams are being recruited and I will provide services similar to those being provided by the SIFE Program Directors in the USA, in terms of helping these Teams better understand SIFE, develop project ideas, prepare for competition, etc.
* I will be an active (sharing ideas, asking questions, deliberate points) participant in 4 cultural forums and 4 business forums. The cultural forums will be held at different SIFE institutions and focus on various aspects of the Indian and US culture, with additional emphasis on the Indian culture. The business forums will be held at various companies (or meeting facility) and will include business leader(s) from India. Each forum will address one of the SIFE pillars (ethics, market economics, etc) and a business exec will make the presentation. These presentations will be followed by open discussion.
* I will be matched with a business mentor during the first 2 weeks of my trip. I will schedule times and activities together, with my mentor, throughout my stay. Some of these activities could include: visiting his/her home, business, factories, etc. This mentorship will provide me a more personal opportunity to understand business in India through my interactions with this individual.
* I will participate in a few SIFE Team projects, 1 of which may be out of Mumbai. This will be an opportunity for me to observe the SIFE India Team(s) in action and to participate in the project delivery.
* I will also participate in various social activities and tourism activities, including a visit to Lonavala and Matheran parks as well as welcome and good-bye receptions.
* I will work in a Team with the 4 United States delegates traveling to India, as well as the other 47 interns (those going to Malaysia, and the Asians coming to the USA) to develop a Global Internship Handbook. The final product will be printed and distributed extensively around the world. This document will record my internship experiences and highlight myself and the other participants.
* I will be part of the organizing team and also lead a forum on this Internship during the SIFE World Cup in October (Toronto). This forum will include all the US interns as well as students from around the world attending the World Cup. The format and agenda for this forum will be partly decided by myself and the other interns.

I'M SO PSYCHED ABOUT SIFE! 8-D