April 25, 2012 – One of the first graduates of CMU’s new Redekop School of Business has a placement in Zambia. Christina Scheerer graduated from CMU on April 22, 2012 with a four-year degree in Business and Organizational Administration. And, in a few months, she’ll be heading to Zambia to work with a local church-based organization that assists people living with HIV/AIDS.
It’s a one-year placement through Mennonite Central Committee’s year-long cross-cultural service program called SALT. Scheerer will work with an organization called Compassionate Ministries run by the Zambian Brethren in Christ Church. She expects to use her new business skills to help improve programs doing HIV/AIDS prevention and providing home-based care, education, counselling, and training.
She’ll also help the organization develop new programs in the areas of agriculture and water and food security.
Scheerer said the job posting intrigued her because it called for applicants with a background in business or international development studies. “The whole position just seemed very relevant to what I had just spent the past four years studying and it seemed like unique and challenging opportunity,” she said.
At CMU, Scheerer took a concentration of international development classes together with her business studies. “I learned a lot about leadership and management and implementing programming,” Scheerer said.
Scheerer will live with a Zambian host family in the town of Choma, halfway between the capital city, Lusaka and Victoria Falls, a popular tourist destination. Scheerer has never been to Africa before. She says she expects to come home changed.
“I’m really excited for the experience,” she said. “I know I’ll have a different perspective when I finish the program.”
Scheerer is from Brunner, Ontario, near Kitchener. She came to CMU because it was one of the few schools she could find that offered both business and international development studies in a Christian context.
After her year of service in Zambia, Scheerer says she hopes to continue working with non-profit organizations.
“She’s an absolutely wonderful student,” says CMU Instructor Craig Martin, who teaches economics, finances, and accounting classes at the Redekop School of Business. “She cares about her work and about people around her. This will be an opportunity for her to have a great adventure and learn about business management.”