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!
