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Edited by Eddie Fernandes, eddie@fernandes.u-net.com.
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Amanda Menezes
Trainer and Employment Officer at The Cedar Centre, an educational charity for asylum-seekers, refugees and socially disadvantaged people.
For information about the Centre, please visit http://www.cedarcentre.co.uk/
Brief Bio

Parents: Dr George Menezes (Retired GP) and Diana Menezes (ex-nurse)

Siblings: Sister Helen Menezes (ex teacher now Director of the Cedar Centre) and brother Simon Menezes (computer technician).

Aunt: Anne Menezes (retired Professor of English at St Xavier's College, Mapusa).

Goa links: Father was born in Goa. His family lived mainly in Calcutta but they had a holiday home in Aldona where all the children were born.

Career: She used to be a professional dancer and travelled the world dancing for approximately eight years. Then she worked in local government for ten years in Leisure and Education and now she works as Employment and Training Worker at the Cedar Centre.

Her job involves helping people to create CVs, fill in application forms, interview coaching etc. She works with a lot of people who do not have English as their first language and so need to have help with language and confidence. She also works with English people who do not have a high standard of literacy and might need extra help. There are people from many countries using the centre, Bengalis, Indians, Goans, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Turkish, Moroccan etc etc. Amanda likes talking to people and getting to know them so her job is ideal for herself.

Hobbies: She recently became a qualified yoga teacher so she teaches and practices yoga herself. Amanda is interested in health and keeping fit. She enjoys reading and travelling and eating out, going to concerts and exhibitions and generally having a good social life as well as enjoying free time by herself to relax and recharge her body.

Contact: amanda@cedarcentre.co.uk

By Robert Nurden
Source :The Independent, 4 November 2004
Further Education: Success and the City


Excerpts:

Landing a job can be difficult for young people who lack skills and confidence. But a project in east London is providing the training needed for jobs in nearby Canary Wharf.

The effort involved in getting companies in Canary Wharf to recruit locally is known only too well to another organisation trying to bridge the divide. The Cedar Centre, an educational charity for asylum-seekers, refugees and socially disadvantaged people, is right in the heart of Docklands, yet it could be on another planet.

"Just two per cent of people employed in Canary Wharf are local," says Amanda Menezes, a trainer and employment officer at Cedar. "Last week, a Vietnamese student, who had completed an English-language course with us, phoned up a Docklands company to enquire about a cleaning job. As soon as they heard her accent, she was told they were no longer recruiting. A minute later, I called and I was offered an interview. I slammed the phone down. It happens all the time. There’s no point in complaining - what can you do? Yes, there is racism at play here."

Full text of article at http://education.independent.co.uk/further/story.jsp?story=579036

For information about Cedar Centre, please visit http://www.cedarcentre.co.uk/
 
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