On Saturday, May 23, 2020, about 60 Vocational Training Students came to the center to receive their handwashing packages, because they were unable to come the week before. Kelvin Fomba, UDS Co-Founder & Director in Liberia held a meeting with the students. They all wore masks and observed social distancing.
Your vocational training students one left and right, and Kelvin in the middle.
The students started sharing their concerns and thoughts with one another about the COVID-19, the reopening of schools, etc. Some students shared how times were hard and the struggles they are facing. Two students got up and shared their testimonials.
Linda Foeday, Cosmetology
The first one was Linda Foeday, a 2019 Hotel Management Graduate and soon-to-be Cosmetology graduate. She shared how fortunate she was to demonstrate her hotel management skills during the permaculture training in January 2019. Linda served the trainers from Sierra Leone Foundation for New Democracy during their nine-day stay. From this experience, she wanted to come back and learn more, and be part of the UDS Team. Based on her dedication, hard work, and leadership, she was appointed to run the Hair Salon that we acquired and opened last fall.
Left to right: Linda receiving her Hotel Management Diploma in April 2019, at the salon in December 2019, and giving her testimony on May 23, 2019.
Next up was Grace Gweh, a three-course soon-to-be graduate in computers, cosmetology, and hotel management. She did all of this while working as a primary school teacher. As she stood at the podium, Grace shared how she created the grade sheets for the students at her school. She then explained how she earned money from designing flyers or other materials for people requesting her service. Grace, a self-motivated person, wants to learn as much as she can. She definitely inspires others through her own example.
Left to right: Grace at the computer in our lab in June 2019, wearing her Hotel Management uniform made by our tailoring students in November 2019 and giving her testimonial on May 23, 2020.
As you see, your investment in students like Linda and Grace pays off. They could not have gotten this far without your generous help!
When you invest in young people of any nation, you are developing the leaders of tomorrow. Your continued support provides leadership development with our youth. In July, the students elected their student council from a field of interested candidates. They planned an installment program for their new leaders and to celebrate their accomplishments in their given courses.
As they were planning their program, Jackson George (Consul General of the Minnesota Liberian Consulate) contacted us about visiting our center during his trip to Liberia. The original plan was to have him visit on July 30, but this became a holiday for the senatorial election, so the students decided to invite him to their program so he could endorse their leadership and be their guest speaker.
Jackson enjoyed being part of this program and meeting our students. When asked in an email if he had anything to share about his visit he responded, “I just want people to know about the great work you are doing to help the people of Liberia. It was a learning and exciting process for me.” Everyone is very grateful to Jackson for making this a successful and memorable program.
The program started with the students from the various courses showcasing what they have learned during the first third of their term.
Your students showcasing what they have learned (left to right, top to bottom): Catering, Computer, Cosmetology, Electrician, Plumbing, and Tailoring students
Next, Jackson shared motivational words with the students about the benefits of learning a trade and also how to use social media to share what they are learning and to connect with people.
Jackson George, Consul General of Minnesota Liberian Consulate, inspiring UDS students to achieve their goals and make a difference
Jackson followed his talk by endorsing our new Student Council who will be serving until they graduate next year.
Congrats to the 2018/2019 Uniting Distant Stars Student Council!
New Student Council (left to right): Teddy Jr, Ngayenga (President), Caraton M. Mahn (Vice President), Sylvester T. Yeah Jr (Secretary-general), Emmanuel L. Tarr (Financially secretary), Abraham C. Morgan (advisor), Zawida Gaylee (Treasurer), & Aujustine Kouadio (Chaplain)
Enoch Daniel Tarr wrote the song, “Education is Better Than Silver & Gold” for UDS.
One of our computer students, Enoch Daniel Tarr, from 2016 wrote a song to promote Uniting Distant Stars Vocational Training Center. Enoch is 16 years old and wanted to express his gratitude for our programs through music.
Our creative and talented board member, Anna Bertch, created a music video of Enoch’s song with photos of all our courses. Please enjoy listening to this uplifting song that will get you moving with the music.
Thank you for attending our first house party “A Gathering of the Stars” on September 18th, 2017! You raised $475 for our Become a Classroom Hero campaign from this stellar event, which featured delicious food, great networking, and being inspired to support Liberian youth. We all appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedules to meet our fabulous board and to learn more about our work in Liberia!
It is important to give special recognition to our hosts, John & Maureen Trepp, who opened their home for this gathering of supporters, old and new. We also want to recognize our guest speaker, Branko Tambah, who shared an inspiring message about vocational training, and the blessings of opportunity that come with it. Finally, we give our gratitude to African Foods & Gifts, for making the delicious appetizers for this event!
For those who missed this event, we recorded Branko’s talk, “The Importance of Vocational Training.” He shares his personal story of growing up in poverty and facing the challenges of war in his home country of Liberia. Both he and his Dad benefited from vocational training on Booker Washington Institute (BWI) in Kakata, Liberia. Branko expressed how vocational training is the path to personal sustainability, and he encouraged everyone to support our students attending UDS courses. Please enjoy his talk, and be inspired to help young Liberians achieve their star potential!
