What am I going to be doing?

Many people have asked what I will be doing. Here is an abstract from my Job Description. I will explain more when I am in country and bedded in.

"Background and rationale for placement:

The partner organization is a Youth Polytechnic based in Ithiru Location of Kandara District in Murang’a County. It is about 30 KM from Thika town, which is industrial town of Kenya. The road to the nearest shopping centre of the YP has tarmac but the YP is on ½ KM un-tarmac road. It is a rural Youth Polytechnic, which has currently 50 students, 15 of whom are girls. The Youth Polytechnic provides skills to ‘O’ level and standard 8 leavers with carpentry, arc-welding, tailoring & dressmaking, motor vehicle mechanic and hairdressing. It is managed by a Board elected though the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The members are 13, and 3 are women. It is in a rural setting and community is very much rural. It is near another YP where VSO has had a volunteer for 3 years and another one is coming in July.

Overall placement purpose and specific placement/partner objectives:

Unemployment is one of Kenya’s most pressing problems. By working with the youth polytechnic the volunteer can actively support the training of the local youth by providing access to skilled market oriented trade and therefore increasing the opportunities for employment. There is another problem the YP is facing that of a deteriorating resource base, through supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports The YP would like to increase the resource base through utilising the available resource adequately, creating markets for the products being made at the YP, promote the YP within the local community so that they bring youth for training as well as soliciting for equipments that support the training. 

The YP would like to undertake fundraising to help it source for tools and equipment within the YP. The tools being used are so old that they do not serve the current production capacity. There are few buildings, which have been supported by the Constituency Development Fund and the Government. The volunteer can support sourcing of tools even computers to support training.

The Board would also require training in management of an institution, including support in development of a strategic plan. All the above problems saw the need for a volunteer to try and build capacity of the YP to be sustainable. The partnership will work towards building greater economic capacity in a rural community through the strengthening of business management within these very important institutions."

Should keep me busy for a while!!