News Release

Self-Reliance Services begins employment initiative in Cape Verde 

Self-Reliance Services of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has created a jobs initiative to help provide Church members from Cape Verde with employment opportunities.

Currently, many are facing employment challenges in the islands of Cape Verde, a country off the coast of West Africa. In meetings involving Church leaders of the stakes and districts of the country, over 500 members in need of better employment were identified.

The initiative focuses on preparing members for work opportunities by applying the skills and habits learned in “My Job Search” Self-Reliance Groups.

“Our members must have faith and know that if they do their part, the Lord will provide for their temporal and spiritual needs,” said Elder Tom Rueckert, a full-time Self-Reliance Services missionary. “We believe that there are plenty of opportunities for our members in Cape Verde and through this job initiative those who are prepared will have opportunities to enter on the path to temporal and spiritual self-reliance.”

The campaign has paired international expertise and local experience for the past three weeks to identify job opportunities by key employers in Cape Verde. Over 30 companies have agreed to participate as partners with Self-Reliance Services.

Many current job openings have been identified and made available to qualified and prepared Church members. Companies that are considered as key employers include industries that require a high volume of staff, such as call centers, security companies and hotels.

As job opportunities are identified, they are shared with Self Reliance Specialists in the corresponding regions. These specialists inform Latter-day Saints of job openings and match them with the proper skillsets to these openings.

For employers, this process provides qualified candidates with high moral standards at no cost. The demand for hiring employees with these standards has been high. Employers claim that they can train employees to acquire specific on-the-job skills, but are unable to the same for moral standards.

Applicants through Self-Reliance Services participate in an interview with an ecclesiastical leader in order to confirm their commitment to abide by high moral standards.

Participants of the program will be monitored and evaluated for two to three months to determine if the program was beneficial to both Church members and their employers.

Besides current job openings, a large number of job openings later this year have been identified due to new hotels and supermarkets that are scheduled to open. Self-Reliance Services will work with local ecclesiastical leaders to help members to be prepared for these additional opportunities.

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