Spotlight on OAS Partnership

In late 2016 Galilee International Management Institute (GIMI) signed a partnership agreement with the Organization of American States (OAS). Under the agreement, professionals from OAS member states are able to receive significant financial assistance from both GIMI and the OAS to participate in the institute’s capacity building programmes. Since signing the partnership, 7 professionals have already benefited from the agreement and are now Galilee Institute graduates. To get a glimpse into their experience with us, we spoke to Mrs Shanta Ramkissoon, a water professional for over 11 years from Trinidad and Tobago. Mrs. Ramkissoon attended the Integrated Water Management Programme in March 2017.

“If you weren’t passionate about water and environment before you got here, by the time you leave you’re definitely going to be passionate”, she said. “You get challenged to change your perspective and to look at the same problems in a different way, to look for solutions in areas where you did not see them before”. For Mrs. Ramkissoon this meant learning new water loss mitigation techniques, water conservation methods and innovative water management strategies that she will now apply to her work in the Caribbean.

She shared that in Trinidad and Tobago there has been a significant reduction in rainfall and, consequently, low water levels in reservoirs. Mrs. Ramkinsoon is concerned that, rather than lead to an improvement in conservation and water resources management, a rationing system of water supply has been put in place. During the IWRM programme, she discovered that Israel has managed not only to “actually create water” to meet demand in an arid environment, but also to integrate a culture of conservation nationally. “I learned a lot about the techniques and methods employed here, how we can adjust, and how it applies to the applications we have in the Caribbean”

“The quality of lecturers was excellent,” She added. “They brought a lot of experience - what worked, what didn’t work, why, the failures, the successes, the challenges - some of which we identify with in the Caribbean and some of which we can learn from in terms of how it was addressed.”

Mrs. Ramkissoon tells us that in addition to benefiting as a professional in the water sector, she learned many techniques that she will apply to other areas of her professional life, in particular management. She added that she greatly enjoyed the cultural experience of being in Israel. “Israel has a lot of history and a lot to share and I appreciated being able to experience this for myself. Those are the memories that I will take with me always.”

Before we parted, Mrs. Ramkinsoon expressed how very grateful she is to both OAS and Galilee Institute. Thank you, Mrs Ramkissoon for joining our programme and for sharing with us your experience at Galilee Institute. We wish you much success in all of your ventures and we look forward to staying in touch. For a full interview with Mrs Ramkissoon visit our YouTube channel.