News & Updates

Launching Ceremony of the Vocational Assistance Training Project

Sat 24th, Apr 2021, 04:57

The Vocational Assistance Training Project is the initiative of KOM Young Adults (KOMNAMITES-USA) which aims at assisting KOM Youths back home especially the vulnerable, to get training in various skills that would help them sustain themselves and their families, thereby empowering the KOM community towards development.

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Vocational training as per this project is the instructional courses that focus on the skills required for a particular trade. In the course, trainees are prepared for specific careers such as tradesmen/women, artisans, hairdressers and tailors/seamstresses among others. The pioneer beneficiaries of this project are young and displaced KOM youths affected by the ongoing socio-political crisis in the north west and south west regions of Cameroon since 2016 that has placed so many under severe vulnerable and desperate conditions.

The selection process of the beneficiary trainees on the one hand was based on real hardship circumstances in accessing opportunities that can shape them into future productive KOM Adults while the trainers of the respective trades, on the other hand, elected to assist in providing training to the trainees at reduced rates as a labor of love for the KOM community. This project being the first of its kind to be implemented by the KOMNAMITES-USA in Bamenda is to be a test to determine its continuity if success is recorded. The project launched in Bamenda for a start had 08 trainers (03 tailors, 1 hairdresser, 1 motor mechanic, 1 welder, 1 building construction and 1 computer trainer) to provide instructional lessons to 17 trainees in the respective trades. The project activities are steered by a field coordinator and all the stakeholders herein are engaged in this activity through job commitment contracts and consent forms clearly indicating their roles and responsibilities in the project.

Also present during the launching were special invitees from partner organizations like ANPPCAN-Cameroon (African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect) and CHRAPA (Center for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy) who all contributed in ensuring the success recorded during the launching and pledged to follow up the vocational training exercise to ensure more progress.

OBJECTIVES

The launching of the Vocational assistance project in Bamenda had the following objectives

• To mark the kick-start of the Vocational Training Project in Bamenda as main,
• To present the stake holders of the project like executive of KOMNAMITES-USA  charged with the project, the field coordination back at home, the trainers and the trainees in the aforementioned trades and their respective roles and responsibilities in the project.
• To present and explain the job commitment contracts to be signed by the trainers and KOMNAMITES-USA in respect to the present assignment.
• To present and explain the consent forms to be signed by the caregivers of the trainees and the KOMNAMITES-USA in respect to the Vocational Training Program.
• To explain how the entire program shall be monitored and reported from inception to completion.

KEY ISSUES DURING THE LAUNCHING

Apart from the main activities contained in the agenda of the launching ceremony, there were major key issues that featured and centered on counseling and more importantly expounding on the terms of contracts with the trainers and consent forms apportioning certain responsibilities to caregivers of the trainees in respect to this project

ADVICE TO TRAINEES AND TRAINERS.

Prime in the discussions during the launching was special advice to the trainees and the trainers in the course of which participants thereto enjoined the young trainees to consider this offer by the KOMNAMITES-USA as a great gift to be highly esteemed. That they should be careful with the type of friends they join in town because bad friends may only help to derail them from completing their assignments.  For the young girls who are more vulnerable, they were on a special note advised to be careful with young boys or men who may distract them with marriage opportunities because marriages are hardly successful with women who do not perform income-generating activities to sustain their homes. Participants especially the elders while counselling the young girls with examples, explained to them that most marriages have failed because the women as housewives do nothing to provide income for their homes and that using this golden opportunity to become productive is a primary step in getting into fruitful relationships that leads to successful marriages. Other participants who have succeeded in the various trades for which the trainees are intending, explained the hardships they endured in the course of completing their training especially in the living conditions in town, as a means of creating awareness to the trainees that attaining success in their respective trades is not a cheap given, but a hard-earned through determination and humility.

The trainers on their own part were advised to be more of parents than just trainers to their attendants. They were told to take upon themselves the moral obligations to nurture their trainees with good morals apart from strictly implementing their training programs as scheduled.

EXPOUNDING ON JOB COMMITMENT CONTRACTS AND CONSENT FORMS.

The functional system of this vocational training exercise was well explained to the key stakeholders of the program wherein the field coordinator stated as follows:

1. That all the trainers herein are committed through job contracts which state their roles and responsibilities in the vocational training project and payment modalities. They were schooled on the contract terms and told that they are not meant to frighten them of legal consequences in the event of a breach, but rather a means to serve as a reminder or an alert to diligently accomplish the tasks they have willingly agreed to accomplish. After reading and understanding the terms of the contracts, they willingly appended their signatures as an acceptance to provide the required services.
2. The caregivers of the trainees were presented the consent forms and every detail therein fully explained. The coordinator said that the caregivers or parents of the trainees can only express their commitments to take full charge over their children in ensuring that they complete the packages intended such as giving them time, encouraging them at home and close follow up to ensure success, is by signing the consent forms as a means of cooperation.  After reading and expressing satisfaction of having understood the content of the documents, they freely appended their signatures in the forms.

RECOMMENDATIONS 

Apart from the main issues discussed as mentioned above, the following main issues were recommended; 

1. That the trainers apart from providing instructional lessons to the trainees in the course, should also provide moral lessons to them especially the females who are more vulnerable to ensure their good moral upbringing in the training process.
2. That there should be a close follow-up of the trainees by the trainers, caregivers and the field coordinator to handle issues that may disturb them from receiving training and to ensure that the trainees complete their packages in the program.
3. That quarterly come-togethers should be organized, bringing together all the trainees and some invited successful persons in their respective trades to counsel them as a means of encouraging them to be more committed.
4. That the trainees should be more committed because they may easily be replaced by those in the waiting lists as soon as they fail to comply with the rules of their training centers such as constant absenteeism without permission and bad conducts. 
5. That selection forms should be designed to determine new recruits into the training field not just getting from the IDP lists because there are some IDPs who are already under advantageous conditions.

CONCLUSION

The activities of the launching that commenced at 9 am finally closed down by 3 pm with family photos taken by all the participants thereto. The meal and drinks consumed at the end were provided by the organizers of the ceremony. All the participants expressed satisfaction of having exhausted the content of the day’s agenda and pledged to fully commit themselves in the process to ensure greater success as a means of promoting development in Kom land. The activities ended with departure to various destinations.