Plumbing Can Be Fun

Plumbing Can Be Fun

by | Jun 1, 2018 | education, Liberia, Plumbing, Thank You, Uniting Distant Stars, vocational training, youth development, Youth Empowerment

Our 16 new plumbing students started March 20, and we are grateful to have one young woman enrolled in this course for the second consecutive year. The students’ learning is mixed with classroom time and practical experience. Their instructor Emmanuel Somah finds different ways for them to apply their skills.

For example, in April, our instructor asked if he could have the students clean our center’s four commodes. He worked with our students in removing, cleaning, and replacing each commode. This lesson helped our students learn how this important piece of sanitation hardware works and what could cause it to malfunction.
 
In May, one of the classroom sessions involved learning to identify the different types of tools and materials, such as pipes and fittings, that the students would be using in this trade. In the video below, you can watch a brief interaction with the instructor and his students during this class lesson. Mr. Somah, like all our instructors, provides a fun learning environment, and our students enjoy receiving their knowledge. 
You made it possible for this young woman to learn how to be a plumber!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84rKUuwbHYg[/embedyt]
Honoring Mrs. Annie Cooper: Catering Instructor

Honoring Mrs. Annie Cooper: Catering Instructor

by | Jun 1, 2018 | catering, education, Liberia, Uniting Distant Stars, vocational training, youth development, Youth Empowerment

On March 25, Mrs. Annie Cooper unexpectedly passed away. Mrs. Cooper helped establish our catering department when we started in February 2017. Her son George was a graduate of the auto mechanics course, and he recruited his Mom to be the catering instructor. As a result, Mrs. Cooper shared her experience and knowledge with her students and helped them feel empowered. Many of her students left without graduating because they started their own micro-businesses. Her students valued gaining the skills needed to succeed more than receiving a diploma; we were impressed by their resolve.

Mrs. Cooper died during the first week of the 2018 term. Her new students and our staff were deeply shocked and saddened by her sudden loss, but we are forever grateful for her service with UDS.

Mrs. Cooper on the left in February 2017