SIFE Team Off to Malaysia for World Cup Competition
Team to Gain Experience at International Level
Members of the SIFE team hit the campus earlier this year to recruit new members |
Six Saint Mary's students and three advisors are in Malaysia this week watching the best business teams in the world compete at the SIFE World Cup.
View their first blog Day 1
Day 3 (NEW!)
Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) is an international non-profit organization that works with leaders in business and higher education to mobilize university students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders.
After placing in the Top 10 at the national championship held in Toronto last year, Saint Mary's was selected by SIFE Canada as one of two national teams to travel to the SIFE International World Cup competition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to learn from the very best in the world.
"We are looking to draw tips and pointers from watching the top teams of the world present on their projects," said team member Amanda Rainville just before departure. "We will also be receiving special project management training through the SIFE program and several training sessions on the ground while we're there."
The students will also have access to all World Cup presentations and have the privilege of listening to some of the world’s top keynote speakers, added advisor Lianne Perry who works with the Saint Mary's Business Development Centre.
Of the 47 participating teams, the one the Saint Mary's group will be watching most closely will be the Canadian championship team from Memorial University in Newfoundland.
The cost of going to Malaysia is expected to top $25,000. As a "promising, high growth team" Saint Mary's SIFE received a grant from the John Dobson Foundation that was supplemented by support from a private company. Additionally, students did their own fundraising activities that included one night of live music and networking called 'Music for Malaysia' at Brussels and a comedy night called 'Standup for SIFE' at Pacifico.
Rainville said being in Malaysia is an awesome opportunity, but being there with talented, inspiring university students who are running huge scale projects to empower people in need and raise their standard of living and quality of life is unbelievable.
In 2010 the Saint Mary's SIFE team carried out 63 projects that had a net impact on the economy valued at $375,984. Projects included the Trumped Competition, SMU Angels and literacy in the classroom programs. With the information they expect to bring back from the World Cup, those numbers are expected to grow substantially.
The students will be posting video blogs about the adventure which will be updated on this website.
For more information on the World Cup, please visit:
This page last modified Friday, 07-Oct-2011 13:56:12 ADT