(February 5, 2010): Eleven graduates, who overcame numerous logistical and educational obstacles over the past year, are ready to explore many well-paid employment opportunities thanks to a program established by World ORT, along with help from Cisco and the American Joint Distribution Committee. This program was especially set up for poor women in Tirat HaCarmel, near Haifa, Israel.

Kadima Mada Executive Director Rony Kalinsky and Tirat HaCarmel Mayor Arieh Tal at the launch of the CCNA course last year.

The women recently received their internationally recognized CCNA certificates after participating in a one-year pilot program. They paid only a nominal fee and were selected solely on the basis of their suitability and potential to benefit from the skills being taught. CCNA certificates qualify holders to work on all varieties of communications equipment that link across metropolitan, regional or national boundaries.

Developed and approved by the $39 billion-a-year, California-based company Cisco Systems Inc, the world's leading supplier of networking equipment and network management for the Internet, CCNA is highly regarded in the networking industry.

They gathered for two, three-hour classes each week over a 10-month period in a room at the Eshkol Payis Center for Arts and Science, which already had an interactive white board and computer terminals installed by World ORT for use by students at Tirat HaCarmel High School, one of more than 30 high schools participating in its Kadima Mada program.

According to World ORT, there have been so many applications for the course that a similar one for men was set up last year and when funds become available, World ORT hopes to set up a CCNA course in Horfeish, near the border with Lebanon.

“This is an enormous achievement for these women,” said Ifat Baron, Cisco Networking Academy Manager in Israel. “We looked for housewives, women who had never studied before and who had never thought of having a profession, or who were employed in minimally paying jobs. They began at a very low academic level and have undergone a real change, not only in their knowledge and abilities but also in their outlook. They now have enormous motivation to enter the workforce at a high level and to seek work outside the confines of their town. They see this course as a real gift that has been bestowed upon them.”

The Mayor of Tirat HaCarmel, Arieh Tal told the women at the graduation ceremony, “I am pleased that you have succeeded in graduating despite all the difficulties - and new opportunities now stand before you. By investing in you, the population, we are investing in our wonderful town. I would like to thank Kadima Mada for their constant support - not all of you know that this program is one in a long line of joint ventures. In fact, I sometimes feel that I meet Kadima Mada representatives at so many events in Tirat HaCarmel that you are already part of the population – we will soon be charging you rates!"