by heather-cstars | Oct 11, 2018 | Community Building, Community Development, education, fundraiser, Liberia, Thank You, Uniforms, Uniting Distant Stars, vocational training, youth development, Youth Empowerment
Our team in Liberia works tirelessly each day to ensure your investment is making a lasting impact on the youth we serve. They deploy various marketing strategies to raise our profile in the community and pique the curiosity of people passing by our center. It is important that we connect with the community because they are potential students, collaborators, and partners.
Our uniforms are one form of advertising because the front of the shirt displays our logo and the back shows the department (i.e. course) the student is enrolled in. Our students receive positive feedback on the quality and the colors of their uniform. Each student wears their uniform proudly because they know UDS is committed to their development.
Blue uniforms are for the auto mechanic, electrician, and plumbing courses; Gold uniforms for catering, computers, cosmetology, hotel management, and tailoring courses.
Our building is another way we draw people to our center. Kelvin Fomba, UDS Co-Founder & Director, and Godfrey Solomon, UDS Registrar & Artist, painted images of our courses on the front of the building. This has proven effective in attracting people to our doors. On one occasion, a man from Nigeria was staying at the hotel next to our center and noticed the artwork. He paid our team a visit to inquire about our programs. These images also have welcomed students with limited to no reading and writing abilities. Not all our courses require reading and writing, and our instructors are able to adapt to the various learning styles.
UDS Vocational Training Center front entrance; Photos by Jasoe Sharpe
Our classrooms are mobile as our students work on their practicals outside the front of the building. This is where people will stop and notice because they see our students working attentively on their given projects. This is where “seeing is believing” comes to play when people are looking for a quality training facility.
Your electrician and auto mechanic students working diligently on their practicals outside
Your continued generous giving built a strong foundation for UDS to connect with the surrounding community and provide life-changing training in trade careers. Thank you for making this happen!
by heather-cstars | Jun 11, 2018 | Clean-up Campaign, Community Development, education, Liberia, Thank You, Uniting Distant Stars, vocational training, youth development, Youth Empowerment
On Saturday, May 26, our students gathered at our center to clean up the trash that had settled in the area from recent storms and windy days. People within the community quickly noticed their work and expressed gratitude for their efforts. We think it is important to get our youth involved in serving the community as a way of paying forward what you have done for them.
Students used cutlasses to cut the grass and brooms to sweep the trash. The grass has been composted to make mulch, and the trash was piled to one area and picked by the waste management company later in the week.
Your students hard at work cleaning up the community
Kelvin Fomba, UDS Co-Founder & Director, checking as they work to clean up the trash
After working for several hours, all students went to the great hall of our center for a general meeting and also to receive their highly-anticipated uniforms (all departments except hotel management). It took longer this year to issue the uniforms, because our registrar Godfrey Solomon, who normally prints the front and back of our uniform shirts, suffered two tragic losses this year. His wife miscarried their baby on March 11, and she died on April 9. While he was bereaved, we found a vendor to help with printing. Our students are now proudly wearing their uniforms.
Your students assembled for a general meeting led by Kelvin Fomba, Co-Founder & Director
Your students receiving their official Uniting Distant Stars uniform
Your continued support ensures young Liberians receive marketable skills at our vocational training center and become contributing members of society.
