Career prospects

Carina worked one year as Youth Delegate for the Red Cross in Rwanda after completing her studies. In September 2008 she wrote:

"I have a Bachelor's degree consisting of psychology and subjects within the field of sociology and Africa studies. This degree together with several exchanges abroad, made it even more interesting for me to pursue an international Master's degree. In that respect, MPhil in Childhood Studies was interesting in many ways, both for acquiring more knowledge of the new sociology of childhood and human rights, in addition to international exchange of ideas with my fellow students in the program. English as a working language has made me confident in pursuing work outside of purely Norwegian speaking organizations or companies, something I see as very positive. The subjects covered in the Master's program have proven relevant for working both inside Norway and outside, something I weighed heavily when making my decision on which Master's degree I applied to.

The topic of my final thesis was children and education, more specifically children's participation in children's councils in Zambian basic schools. As part of this work I received a scholarship from Save the Children Norway's research fund, which made it possible for me to go to Zambia to undertake interviews and gathering of information, essential for the thesis to be successful. This was a worthwhile experience and I learned much about research methods and fieldwork. I gained more insight into the complex world of research and development. The Master's program, together with the opportunity to do fieldwork and do my own research, has encouraged and inspired me to work abroad for children's rights within the scope of development work.

Today I work as a youth delegate for the Norwegian Red Cross with the Rwanda Red Cross. My work assignments are to support the youth structures already existing within the Rwanda Red Cross. Work consists of supporting the youth sections in schools as well as supporting the units in making their own plans of action, for instance within projects concerning HIV/aids, international humanitarian law and hygiene and sanitation. In addition to this work, I will be involved with some OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) programs, where I will support and monitor activities, as well as document the work being done and being part of the social and cultural activities. A part of the work description as a youth delegate is to write reports in addition to inform about work related to the different projects that the Rwanda Red Cross and the Norwegian Red Cross have. This is an incredibly exciting job in which I feel my knowledge and experiences grow every day, in every way.

In addition to the new and challenging work tasks, I get to experience some of the challenges occurring while working within a different country; with different working languages (French and Kinyarwanda to mention two), cultural diversity and differences in how to organise the working day. My Master's degree in Childhood Studies has made me confident that I have something to offer within my working field, and I want to develop my competence within this sector both inside Norway and outside."

"Prior to joining the master's programme in Childhood Studies in autumn 2006, I had a bachelor's degree in Sociology and diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology. With the qualifications I had, I used to work in different health care facilities and in a non-governmental organization working in the area of Reproductive Health. Youth friendly reproductive health was the focus area which I was working on while applying for Childhood Studies. It is therefore, my great interest to build on my experience working with youth/children and learn more about children's everyday lives that cheered me up to apply for the master's programme.

In my master's thesis, Health Seeking Behavior among Street Children and Government's Response to their Rights: the Case of Addis Ababa, I was interested to look into how health is perceived by street children, where they seek health care and how the response to their needs are addressed by the government health facilities. The courses I took in the master's programme as well as the prior experience I had in the health and sociology fields had helped me to carry out my research with confidence and good understanding. I found the programme in Childhood Studies relevant and applicable after joining professional work which I'm currently engaged in my country Ethiopia. I also think that the field is relevant and applicable in any part of the world.

The organization I'm currently working for is called ChildFund Ethiopia, which is a non-governmental organization. As the name implies, it is a child focused organization. There are other national offices of ChildFund in some other African, Asian and Latin American countries with the same vision and goal for children. The core intent of all ChildFund alliances is to help deprived, excluded and vulnerable children have the capacity to become young adults, parents, and leaders who bring lasting and positive change in their community.

There are three core program areas for the organization, namely 'Care and Development of Infants and Young children', 'Quality Learning Opportunities and Enhancing Achievements in Basic Education', and 'Leadership and Livelihood Skills for Youth'. The three program areas are designed to give outcomes of Healthy and Secure Infants, Educated and Confident Children and Skilled and Involved Youth, respectively. Among the three, the first core program area, 'Care and Development of Infants and Young Children' is the one I'm involved in and responsible for.

As a Program Officer – Early Childhood Development (ECD), I lead the development and roll out of the ChildFund ECD strategy and facilitate ChildFund partner's implementation and management of interventions aimed at ensuring Healthy and Secure Infants. I work towards ensuring deprived, excluded and vulnerable children in targeted communities have access to primary health care, adequate nutrition, early childhood social and cognitive development, are ready/prepared for basic education, and their communities participate in valuing, protecting and advancing their worth. The three programs including the one under my responsibility are being implemented in the 14 project sites among which 9 are out of the capital city, Addis Ababa."

"I had a bachelor degree in social anthropology from the University of Iceland and several years of working experience from within the public sector in Iceland when I got accepted into MPhil in Childhood studies. It was my sincere interest in children's daily lives and their position within the family that encouraged me to apply.

The main focus of my master's thesis was on Icelandic children growing up in post-divorce families where their parents have joint custody and live in two separate households. My aim was to explore and achieve an understanding of how these children both manage and experience their post-divorce family life, particularly their own residential arrangements.

I was offered a job at the Directorate of Health in Iceland, as a project manager in the division of health statistics, already before I finished the study. The Directorate of Health is a government agency headed by the Medical Director of Health. One of the main functions of the Directorate is to collect and process data on health and health care services with the aim of monitoring the health of the nation and to promote quality improvements in the health care services.

Although children and youngsters are not the main focus of my daily work at the Directorate of Health, the master's programme has without doubt proved very useful. During the study period my competence in dealing with complex and challenging projects developed and I have become better capable of organizing myself and to prioritize tasks. Furthermore, the programme increased my ability to put myself in the position of others and made me aware of the importance of listening to all parties involved. Last but not least, I learned Norwegian while living in Norway and my English, both written and spoken, improved immensely during the stay. Good language skills should not be underestimated in a global world where international cooperation keeps getting more extensive and important."