Vocational Training Teams (VTT) - Group Study Exchange (GSE)
Vocational Training Team Project 2012. Thika, Kenya
What is a Vocational Training Team?
Vocational Training Team Project 2012. Thika, Kenya
Taking Therapeutic Skills to the Disabled in Kenya
Vocational Training Team. District 1070 to District 9200
District 1070”s first ever Vocational Training Team (VTT) flew to Kenya on 10th February 2012. The Team consisted of Rotarian Leader Geoff Blurton (Assistant Governor), Deputy Leader Rtn Liz McCartney, Occupational Therapist, Paediatric Physiotherapists Pamela Marmelstein and Angela Jones, and Special Needs Teachers Janet Daye and Laura Jeffs. Members of the team had been selected from almost 40 applicants.
The Team was met in Nairobi by members of the Rotary Club of Thika and later that same day the District Governor, District 9200 , Rtn Eric Kimani gave a reception for the team at his home.
Team with District Governor Eric, his lady & Thika Rotarians
For the next two weeks the Team worked at Joytown Schools for Physically Impaired Children and Mugumo-Ini Primary School.
The Mugumo-Ini project was added following Geoff”s visit to Thika in September and the two Special Needs Teachers helped to establish a unit for autistic children, only the second of its kind in Kenya. The Rotary Club of Kettering provided the initial funding for this project which was the inspiration of Rtn Jennifer Wanjiru of the RC of Thika.
At the Joytown Primary and Secondary Schools much work was done in the classrooms and therapy rooms.
Team members shared their expertise in training staff and sharing experience in how to create the best possible environment in which the children can learn.
Laura and Janet working with autistic children
Joytown Schools for the Physically Disabled
Kenya East Salvation Army sponsors many special schools including Joytown Primary and Secondary School for the Physically Disabled. These are government schools, managed by Boards of Governors. Our schools for children with physically disabilities all have ‘Joy' in their names. This school provides a safe environment for children with multiple handicaps. Many children have been hidden in early years, and start school late. Additionally these children are subject to long periods of hospitalisation and sometimes miss a term - or year - for hospital treatments.
Joytown Primary School has an enrolment of approximately 300 children. There are another 200 -300 children on the waiting list for registration. The children here particularly enjoy their swimming pool, and the freedom this gives them. They also have a school choir and sing beautifully, in harmony. The age of some of these children means they have a few tenors and basses.
Joytown Secondary School was built to meet the needs of the primary school leavers. It houses approximately 200 students and is inclusive. The able bodied young people are learning to fight discrimination due to handicap and are a huge help to those living with disabilities.
What are Vocational Training Teams?
The Group Study Exchange programme has been replaced, under the Future Vision of The Rotary Foundation, by Vocational Training Teams (VTT). As the name suggests, VTT is about teams visiting other parts of the world with an emphasis on training, either of themselves or of the communities they visit. The focus of the visit will be around one area of work and training, though not all participants will necessarily have the same vocation or profession. For VTT applicants to be successful, they must demonstrate that they can add value to the community which they are visiting and that there is a genuine need for their services in those communities.
In District 1070 we are working on a VTT programme in Kenya for 2012, working with two schools for disabled and SEN children in Thika, north east of Nairobi. Anyone interested in taking up the challenge of a VTT programme please make yourselves known to the District Foundation Committee, particularly Irvin Metcalf (RC Grantham) for further information. Similar but less strict criteria will apply for applicants to VTT compared to GSE. A Rotarian will lead the team – Geoff Blurton from RC Kettering has been appointed – and the team will consist of professionals in the specialist field covered by the VTT. Most costs will be covered by a global grant from The Rotary Foundation.
For details please read the VTT briefings on the tab at the bottom of this page posted here by Rotarian Irvin Metcalf, Rotary Club of Grantham.
District 1070”s first ever Vocational Training Team (VTT) flew to Kenya on 10th February 2012. The Team consisted of Rotarian Leader Geoff Blurton (Assistant Governor), Deputy Leader Rtn Liz McCartney, Occupational Therapist, Paediatric Physiotherapists Pamela Marmelstein and Angela Jones, and Special Needs Teachers Janet Daye and Laura Jeffs. Members of the team had been selected from almost 40 applicants.
Kenya East Salvation Army sponsors many special schools including Joytown Primary and Secondary School for the Physically Disabled. These are government schools, managed by Boards of Governors. Our schools for children with physically disabilities all have ‘Joy' in their names. This school provides a safe environment for children with multiple handicaps. Many children have been hidden in early years, and start school late. Additionally these children are subject to long periods of hospitalisation and sometimes miss a term - or year - for hospital treatments.
Joytown Secondary School was built to meet the needs of the primary school leavers. It houses approximately 200 students and is inclusive. The able bodied young people are learning to fight discrimination due to handicap and are a huge help to those living with disabilities.