Careers Mentorship with Homa Bay Vocational Training College
Last month, volunteers at Imara Community Growth Network reached out to local polytechnic centre, Homa Bay Vocational Training College. After assessing the needs and desires of the youth at the college, we agreed that we would be able to deliver a short workshop focussed on personal development, life goals and overcoming challenges.
The intensive courses offered at HBVTC equip these youth with highly specialised artisanal skills in disciplines from electrical engineering and plumbing to carpentry and tailoring. But these skills will not be enough to ensure a stable career for these vulnerable young adults. Our outreach workshops aim to give these youths the skills and confidence needed to make comprehensive plans towards achieving their most ambitious goals. We hope to empower them towards financial empowerment, and an independent future.
Limited projects such as this are run at a zero-cost basis, meaning no financial transactions were involved. ICGN is very proud to be working towards their objectives even without much needed financial aid. The workshop was designed and delivered by international ICGN volunteer Finlay Porter. This is what he had to say about the experience:
Today I had the privilege of running a dedicated mentorship workshop at Homa Bay Vocational Training College on behalf of Imara Community Growth Network .
These talented youths had requested for us to focus on the topic of Personal Development and Overcoming Challenges. ICGN was able to offer this tailored workshop completely free of charge.
It was a great experience getting to know these people, who are all training for various vocational professions from plumbing and electrical engineering to fashion design and food tech.
We talked about the value of reflection, and different strategies for identifying skills and past mistakes. We then enjoyed a group analysis of what techniques individuals had employed whilst overcoming challenges in the past. We also discussed how to set goals for different timescales and aspects of life (making them SMART of course). And finally we shared individual approaches to time management and stress monitoring.
This was the first collaboration between our organisation and Homa Bay VCT, and I feel confident that it will be the start of a productive partnership.
All in all, it was an excellent first session, and I look forward to strengthening the partnership between ICGN and Homa Bay VTC in the future.
Here at Imara Community Growth Network, we believe that education is fundamentally important in creating a brighter, more sustainable future. We are proud to strengthen our partnership with Homa Bay Vocational Training College, and look forward to delivering similar workshops for them in the future.
