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!