Asante Sana

This week I have said my goodbyes in Mtwara and have been wrapping up everything in Dar Es Salaam at the Country office for the last few days, exit interview and such and I will board a plane this evening back to the US.  Time has sped up and I can't believe I'm already headed home.

The question regarding my work here will remain ‘where does VETA go from here?’  The VSO advisors have made leaps here, but there is still much work to be done.  The piece I have been working on, mainly strengthening industry links and providing my input on the Life Skills course with resume and interview preparation documents will surely help, but it will take some time.  Again, I remind myself that I came here and VSO is here because there were already issues that needed resolving.

The strategy and activities budget are in stages of getting approvals.  The Industry Link Manager will now be working alone to get it all implemented.  She and I met with the both the Principal and Registrar in Mtwara as well as the Vocational Training Center Coordinator at the Regional VETA office this week and discussed the strategy as well as both issues and successes while stressing the importance that communication lines remain open in order for things to move forward.   From what I have seen there is plenty of opportunity for work locally for these trainees, provided they receive the right type of training and the teachers have the proper support.  Unfortunately I have observed some practices which are a step in the wrong direction but I am confident that if everyone could be given a slight push and shown that we are all on the same team, VETA/VSO/Teachers/Trainees alike, that this centre and Lindi could be quite successful in securing livelihoods and employing local people which will all move towards the overall goal of fighting poverty in this region.  In my opinion there are just some dots to be connected, and while these are at this time pretty spread out and there are large hurdles culturally that need to be leapt over, I think there are positive things in the future.

Working in a developing country has certainly been an eye opener for me and while I’ve enjoyed myself and the beauty of it all, I mustn’t overlook the fact that there is poverty all around me, people struggling to feed themselves and their families, and living on very little day to day.  Gender inequality is a major issue, along with teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS.  Every day something new reminds me how lucky I am and how much I take for granted and not to keep repeating but we all truly need these reminders at times. 

The very first Swahili phrase I learned before coming out to Tanzania was Asante Sana- Thank you very much- in an email from the project manager who interviewed me.  Since then I’ve learned a little more Swahili and a lot more about myself. There has been a huge change in me since my arrival filled with fear and anxiety and almost wanting to give up to now where I am saying goodbye to new lifelong friends (truly love and will miss you all, you know who you are) and colleagues with a heavy heart.   I hope you’ve all enjoyed my posts and I want to say once more I am so grateful to Randstad and VSO that I had this opportunity, and strongly encourage anyone who is considering it to go for it, apply, the worst that could happen is you decide it’s not for you but if you don’t try, how will you ever know?

“Forget the things that you own, travel almost anywhere you can go.

Dance across the tree tips, set them ablaze
Soaking in their pleasant warm summer haze"

Asante Sana Tanzania, goodbye to the beautiful sea, country, and people that surround me.  I have a feeling I may be back, but for now- I’m comin’ home.

Wikendi Njema

What a great weekend!!   It was my last in Tanzania and as you’ll see, I made the most of it!

Conquer a fear…Friday afternoon started off with a scuba dive fear conquering.  To be honest, I have never been keen on trying it out simply because it seems just so unnatural.  A couple weeks ago we went out for my first try, I did some of the exercises (taking the breathing regulator in and out, practicing signals for issues underwater, etc.) and then was off for the Discover Scuba dive.  However about 5-6 meters down I felt I couldn’t clear the pressure in my ear and started to panic, breath really heavy, and came back up quickly after only 10 minutes.  I was disappointed but thankfully Isobel, dive instructor and another great friend made here in TZ, offered to let me try again and I am extremely glad that I did.  Second time around I was much calmer, I just kept telling myself I could do it and refocusing on this beautiful underwater world around me.  We went 12 meters (about 40 feet for my American friends) down for about an hour and it was incredible-- the coral, the schools of fish, filled with color and life, wonderful experience I must do again someday!

Take in the sights…. Saturday morning we woke up and took a drive south to Mnazi Bay, near the village of Msimbati.  This is the area that started all this natural gas mining and where the pipeline begins, in fact in 2010 it was estimated that there were over 10 million cubic meters of gas underneath the territory of this village.  Though many people still live in the mudhuts and it is not as developed as Mtwara you can see it is starting to shift and change.   However, the reason we went out there and the beauty of Mnazi bay is the marine park with white sands and the snorkeling on a pristine beach completely untouched by tourism.  You can literally walk 20 feet from the shore and the reef is right there, I only wish I had an underwater camera to share some of what I saw, but it was fascinating, full of color and fish and I did see a big blue starfish which I was excited about.  There are some areas of coral that have been damaged by dynamite fishing, which is a big problem in Southern Tanzania (it is illegal now but still taking place) unfortunately.  You can see some is starting to recover and since it was made a marine park this has been happening less and less and I hope it continues to diminish.  I’m so glad I got to experience this place before leaving Tanzania.

A little history... On the way back to Mtwara, we passed this gorgeous Baobab tree. This magnificent species is rarely found outside Africa, and is known as the tree of life (yes, Disney folks, that tree), with good reason. It can provide shelter, clothing, food, and water for the animal and human inhabitants of the region. The cork-like bark and huge stem are fire resistant and are used for making cloth and rope. The leaves are used as condiments and medicines. The fruit, called "monkey bread", is edible, and full of vitamin C. The tree can store hundreds of liters of water, which is an adaptation to the harsh drought conditions of its environment. The tree may be tapped in dry periods. Mature trees are usually hollow, providing living space for many animals and humans. There is also some superstition around these trees as well and as some believe the hollow cores hold evil spirits and they will be released if you do cut them down. Anyway I find it all fascinating.

Shop, shop, shop… Sunday, I ventured back into the market “Soconi” in Mtwara and I thought of how I felt the first time I went there, when it was completely overwhelming and quite daunting.  However, after being here some time I didn’t find it quite so bad.  It was still crowded and there were beggars and you constantly have to bargain (thankfully I had my lovely Kenyan friend Trinnie with me and her fluent Swahili), but it truly is an incredible place and I came away with lots of good stuff to bring home!

That about wraps it up!  Back to work today to help finalize the budget for the strategy for both the EEVT project and the Lindi Secondary Schools project and hopefully having a couple more meetings though some things have now been postponed (Advisory Committee meeting will now be in July).  Will give a good synopsis in a couple of days.  

Leaving a Mark

Hello followers!  I still can’t believe how the last month has flown by and I sit here with a short week and a half left.

This week so far has been visiting companies and beginning to round up those which will serve on the Advisory Committee which I mentioned a couple of posts ago but here is a quick rundown:  The establishment of the Advisory Committee was among the action points in the June 2013 steering committee meeting. This resolution was reached as part of increasing VETA students/teachers exposure/industry links to various companies related to the EEVT project. Also, the advisory committee was expected to provide necessary advice on the specific skills/requirements in the gas relating industries for improving VETA’s

curriculum and workshops so that what is produced at VETA (graduates) matches the specific qualifications within industries. Much of the details on the roles of the committee were expected to be shared during official launch of the advisory committee. The Advisory Committee will be divided in sub-groups related to the specific trades that will meet at a regular basis to give their inputs in the curriculum.

We again visited the companies from my previous post, the local builder and the port, but this time we were able to take the VETA teachers as well as a handful of trainees with us to the sites.  At the local building site, one of the Foreman took all of us around on a tour and explained in detail what the steps were in the process of building the apartments, the trainees and teachers were showed some health and safety procedures and able to climb up and around the site.  They seemed to really enjoy, and were extremely interested and eager to learn. In fact as we were leaving, they were asking if they could come back a full day and at different stages of the building to learn more which we are working to arrange during the upcoming holiday.  The hope is that the teaching and materials in the Carpentry workshop can be modified some to better fit the industry.  There is only so much that can be taught in a workshop but I think that showing them what they could be doing in the future is a very important motivational factor for these young Tanzanians.  The Builder agreed to be part of the advisory committee and it seems like this “client” relationship is going in the right direction. 

This past Monday the electrical and plumbing supervisors from the port had visited the VETA workshops to get an idea of what was here before showing the trainees and teachers around.  So we also did a tour here yesterday which was concentrated on those two trades.  The teachers and trainees also seemed very engaged and interested at this site.  They were showed things such as the water filtration system as well as a new building with cabling/sockets newly installed actually by the VETA interns who we met the last visit.  Some great suggestions came out of these visits.  For example with plumbing, the idea of making cubicles with mock filtration systems and potentially showers and toilets at the VETA workshop (as opposed to only pipe fitting) that would help with more “real world” training.  From now the suggestion will be brought up to VETA and hopefully funding can be obtained to make some of these changes. 

For the next few days the plan is to visit several companies in person to see if some solid appointments can be made for the future which I may or may not be able to take part in depending on the timing.  The Advisory committee once re-engaged will meet next Tuesday before I go, and I do plan to attend and see how it goes.  The strategy I wrote out is still in draft mode and may stay that way but I do plan to go over everything next week with the Country Director and Industry Link manager.  As for the other project in Lindi I started helping out there, but probably won’t get too far into it while still in Tanzania.

I know that as volunteers choosing to spend time in other countries are truly always hoping to “leave their mark” somehow, whether you are there 1 week or 10 years…  I hope that my expertise and knowledge transfer has been positive for this project, have already let everyone know they can reach me via email anytime, and really wish to stay in contact and see what develops here.  I absolutely hope to leave a mark but if for some reason that doesn't happen, at least this experience has certainly left a mark on me, in a great way!

Some pics of the site visits- explaining the water filtration system and importance of fire hose.

 Supervisor and students/teachers at construction site.

A fun post...

Quick note about work… I can't believe I only have two weeks left!  I have made the first draft of the strategy and am waiting on feedback and also working to put it in to more of an Activities work plan.   I should have more to report next week, as we will again be visiting companies here locally for industry link opportunities and feedback to form an advisory committee which will meet just before I head out.  If time permits, I have also been asked to assist in writing the strategy for a different project that is focused on employability as well but in the Secondary schools (before employment/vocational/college).  Will write more on that later!!

**Proud moment this week… I called a Bajaj (aka tuk tuk, aka the main means of transport around here) all by myself TWICE (shout-out to my lovely friends Zara and Kayley for the coaching on what to say) and successfully made it to my destinations. :)

With mostly work related posts lately, I wanted to take a moment share some facts and interesting things that I’ve either observed or learned in my time here in no particular order:

• Tanzanians are very friendly and welcoming, they smile from ear to ear, greet everyone and use a multitude of these greetings at one time (in Kiswahili of course).  One of the most common greetings said to tourists  is “Mambo”, with the common response ”Poa”, which means roughly “Cool”- this is my favorite Swahili word, because its normal to have favorite words in other languages right?
• I speak American English, well Texan actually…  Of course I knew this before arriving but when you’re the only one who speaks it, you stick out!  I have met people from many different places, locals of course… then also the UK, Finland, Scotland, Australia, Portugal, Canada, and the Netherlands and am sure to come home with a new vocabulary.  I have to work to convert my brain to the metric system, think before I speak the word “soccer” and don’t dare say football and mean the pigskin, and tune in closely to conversations much more than usual.  However, I have successfully taught my Tanzanian manager to say “gotcha” and have slowly introduced “y’all” in random conversation.
• Upon arrival in Dar Es Salaam, at night and alone in a taxi, I saw many groups gathered at corners on motorbikes and in my exhausted and anxious state I thought them to be some sort of motorcycle gangs.  In the light of day and after living here a while, I came to realize that these motorbikes are called “Boda boda” or a motorcycle taxi that many people use as transport to and from town/work/etc., so what I was seeing was actually Tanzania’s version of a taxi stand. Ha! Silly Mzungu! (the common Swahili term for someone with white skin)  Pic to come soon
• The big dipper is upside down!  And the rest of the constellations… don’t laugh, I was very amused.
•  Oranges are not orange… 
• Cheese and bacon are a delicacy and tough to get around town… 
• A WHOLE lot can be carried  by bicycle, there are literally whole shops, it is mind boggling
• Only tourists say Hakuna Matata- curses Lion King making me think I knew something!… more widely used by locals is Hamna shida which essentially also means no worries or no problem.
• My little Coleman lantern (thanks Dad!) lights up an entire room and power cuts don’t really phase me anymore (unless they are in the middle of the night because I am a kid and afraid of the dark)… but I still always remind myself to look up, the stars are beautiful when there is no light.
•  There are NOT lions, elephants, and giraffes freely about, sadly.  Of course I am on the coast and in the south so there ARE freely roaming goats, chickens, and cows a plenty! *Must go back to Africa for actual safari in future my time is slowly slipping away here!*
• I’m notably a light sleeper, though I have gotten used to some sounds…crying goats (disturbingly sound like crying children), mooing cows, church bells at the nearby convent at 6 AM, the call to prayer from the Mosque at 4:30 AM.
• However, this does NOT include my little winged two legged alarm clock – Roosters (Cockles for you non-American English folk) do sound off in the morning, the one outside my house at 6:30 AM every day.

I think that’s it… for now- here are some photos for you!

Sign outside of VETA

Me walking home from work via the beach

An orange?

 Another sky just because

10 Degrees South- a little treasure in Mikandani Mtwara, where I have made many memories and I highly recommend a visit to anyone who may one day venture out this way.  The food, the company, and the view are amazing... and if you keep an eye out, you could see some monkeys, though be careful as they just may throw nuts at you from the tree tops on occasion...

Opportunity Knocks

How do we help VETA answer the call?

First a little background:  Every year in Tanzania 1 million young people enter the labour market and there aren’t enough employment opportunities to go around. Youth unemployment is high and many other young people have to rely on informal and insecure work which is poorly paid and come with poor working conditions.  At the same time, there is large scale investment in Tanzania. Large discoveries of off shore oil and gas have led to significant investment in the Mtwara and Lindi regions of Tanzania. Companies in the oil and gas sector and its supply chain will have large demands for labour, goods and services and at the moment the available workforce in Tanzania does not have the right level and quality of skills to meet that demand.

As mentioned in my last post, this week was a week of meetings, and it turned out to be a step in the right direction.  We felt we would get the best feedback by starting with the current companies who are providing internships for trainees.  First stop was a local builder/engineering company which has both carpentry and masonry interns on site.  We began discussing the project goals and I asked about the mechanism by which he received the current trainees.  He mentioned that he’d called VETA and that the potentials initially just showed up on site and there was not a CV sent or any structure to how he received them.  He was excited about the prospect of this being improved in the future!  Then we discussed the trainees and it was said the majority are very willing to learn and improve their skills, but that it took a while to get them up to speed because in this industry practical experience is very different from what can be taught in a controlled workshop.  His hope is that we could extend the internships from 2-3 months to possibly 6 months and mentioned that was possible he would be very willing to hire them on full time once he had trained them for that period.  By the end of this meeting, it was clear that carpenters are indeed a huge need and it will only increase.  This company alone plans to build 94 more blocks of apartment buildings in Mtwara as well as 20 new houses in Dar es Salaam in the next few years.   Afterwards it was hard hat time and we had a chance to visit with the interns.   They were so proud to walk us around and show us the columns they had constructed on site and said they were very happy with the experience they were getting there, and hoped to be able to secure employment there in the future.

Then it was time to visit the Port and we met with an oil and gas company which has VETA trainees from plumbing, welding,  motor vehicle mechanics, and electrical on site.  Through the meeting we found that to find the trainees here, the company had to reach out to VETA through networking of employees and VSO volunteers who were friends outside of work.  They were also pleased by the potential for job postings in the future and having a structure and relationship with someone in VETA who can ensure follow up and constant communication.   We also learned that here too the trainees presented themselves very well and were doing a great job, however there had been some lead time to get them up to speed as most of the equipment they were seeing for the first time on arrival at the port.  We talked to the trainees as well and they were enthusiastic and seemed to really enjoy their internships, and when asked what VETA could have done to better prepare them they seemed to understand that there are limitations in the controlled workshops but mentioned that more field practice would be great because the field work is very different than their training.  For instance in motor vehicle mechanics, the 4-6 cylinder car engines for practice at VETA compared to a 12 cylinder engine in the field.  Overall we saw that there are opportunities arising at the port for trainees, but VETA needs to improve on the industry experience to better align the training with what is needed in the field.  If this can’t be done in the workshops, then again potentially extending internships or even having teachers visit the companies could be good ideas.  Walking around the site, these interns were also proud to show electrical outlets that had been installed recently, and it’s a great thing to see pride and big smiles on their faces.  I managed to remember to bring my camera with me on site here and have included a couple photos below of us in the meeting and then one of supervisor with the trainees.

Great news is that although we only went out to a couple companies so far, the upper level management/supervisors all seem very eager to assist in any way they can to help strengthen the relationship between VETA and the local industries.  We are working to re-engage an Advisory committee that unfortunately was formed and then seemed to be forgotten after a meeting in November.  The committee is made up of local companies by trade and VETA management and I feel it is essential to keep up the industry links and provide sustainability after VSO has finished assisting with the project.

So now as I have only about 3 weeks left out here- it’s time to buckle down to write out this strategy….

Habari za Kazi?

Translated…How is your work? 

I am halfway through my placement and I feel like things are slowly coming into focus as to what can be achieved while I am here as far as the work I am doing.  The first weeks I have spent observing and being a “sponge” so to speak, gaining as much knowledge of what the challenges are by meeting with the Principals, Registrars, Teachers, HR managers, as well as other volunteers in both centers.    I came in with no expectations which turned out to be a great outlook as the Program Director told me on my first day- “VSO is here, working on this project, because there are issues, and you need to understand that.”  If everything was running smoothly, there would be no need for help.

So… I made a list of challenges because I figured this is a good place to start!  I won’t list them all but so you can get an idea…  The center is Lindi as mentioned is newer so they do not have all of the same challenges there as Mtwara.  EX: Mtwara Motor vehicle workshop has been getting a new floor and unusable for the 3 weeks at least as I understand.  Some of the challenges are for both locations such as the desire for more capacity building for teachers as well as the language barrier. Understand not all the issues directly apply to my role but of course affect other VSO volunteers, and then indirectly applies to me because everything is connected!

Quick rundown-There is a VSO advisor for each vocational trade (still in process of recruiting for some spots) as well as one for Entrepreneurship and English, most have been here at least a year or more, and they have made some great leaps since the project start. (i.e. bringing in City and Guilds to train teachers and provide curriculum, creating Entrepreneurship societies and a Speech lab, the bakery mentioned in my other post, as well as the success that many food prep and welding trainees are out in the work force after last year’s graduation), so things are moving forward just not as quickly as everyone hoped!

MY IMPACT:

My main objective is to create an employability strategy and make suggestions for improvements and write it all up in a proposal before I leave.  My hope is that the strategy is implemented and some success will come from it, even if it is a while after I am gone.  When I got here I knew they needed some help with sample resumes and interviewing tips. After a week or so I discovered that there is actually a class here called Life Skills where the curriculum outlines a Module on seeking employment with resume writing and interviewing skills, as well as using referrals to gain employment.  This was a good start assuming that the curriculum is being followed which unfortunately I cannot observe because the end of July is when this is actually on the syllabus.  That said- I’ve separated my strategy into two parts.  First I will provide my suggestions using sample skills resumes as well as an interview preparation document to give to graduates.  This will act as a guide for the Life Skills teachers in the future.  Second, I will provide technology input related to my experience that would assist in securing employment, such as using Excel or a simple database to track students by trade with their skills resumes as well once they create them, or having a Career Opportunity/job posting section on the main VETA website.  This would be for easier access for HR/Registrar when he has potential employers contact him with opportunities.  Also, making sure students know how to search the internet and having good internet access at VETA since most do not have access at home.  Even though this sounds like a simple suggestion, it will take time to implement here.  In the US we rely so much on the internet to do some of the work for us, and here the internet access has slowly improved and as this area continues to develop it will all become more feasible.

Another piece of the project I am assigned to is to assist in creating links to companies/potential employers, specifically trying to align with Oil and Gas companies that have set up in the region.  Obviously this would be difficult for me to do alone with my short time here but thankfully last week another joined us from VSO Netherlands as a consultant (not a volunteer).   She is great, and has a ton of experience working in different African countries and is familiar with vocational centers.  I’m working with her and my project manager to do a couple of different things such as provide a short survey to the students and teachers that will help obtain data on the where the project is now.   I also typed up some steps to take to create a new link in an industry, starting with establishing the skills needed in the field to ensure the center is in alignment, working to gain interest in potentially creating internships for the trainees, and then of course stressing the importance of constant follow up and communication once contacts are made.  Next week we will start by visiting some of the companies who have brought in and employed trainees for internships and talking with them about their experience.  I know I will learn a lot in the next month and hope to have good things to report next week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Africa skies

Howdy! Short post just for some pictures...there is just something about these Africa skies- I can’t get enough! 

Sunsets at Msemo (local restaurant/lodge)

Moon over the water

Beach sky

Rainbow after a storm