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LVDC is a vocational training centre for disabled youths in Tanzania. The target group is youths with disabilities, male and female of ages between 10 and 25 years, regardless of religious affiliation or ethnic background. The centre comprises of 3 small workshops; the carpentry and woodworking department, the metal workshop where mobility aids are made (our centre fabricates mobility aids such as wheelchairs and tricycle for the community that otherwise would not be available to them) and the dressmaking and knitting department. At present we have 20 students training in the workshop. LVDC also offers a Community Based Apprenticeship Programme to cater for disabled youngsters who wish to train in vocational skills but are not able to come to the centre in Musoma. The 40 young people that we currently have participating in the programme come from different parts of Mara region (the districts of Serengeti, Bunda, Tarime and Musoma urban). Through the Community Based Apprenticeship Programme, students are linked to well-established small and medium scale workshops for a specific period of time to obtain specific skills. A curriculum has been developed and segmented into training modules. This will assist the trainers leading the workshops in rolling out a truly competence based training programmes, designed to reach out to all students involved regardless of their background knowledge or speed and pace of learning. |
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With the support of staff at LVDC, and once students are confident in producing basic textiles and furniture, a service is offered to the local community. If local schools or offices need new desks or chairs, students at LVDC will offer to design and produce these items for a fee. This fee is then invested back into LVDC as a form of cost recovery. This approach makes a huge difference not only to the success of the centre, but the way that the local community views it.
LVDC also works to teach sign language to students who are hard of hearing or deaf, in addition to their friends and families. The use of Braille is also taught to students at the centre that are blind, and again, this offer of tuition is also extended to the families and friends of blind students that are enrolled at LVDC. Before attending the school the vast majority of deaf children had no means of communication and due to being deprived of an education were unable to read or write. Through teaching sign language the school can educate the children in vital information such as the risks of aids, malaria and meningitis.
When students complete their training (from both the workshop and the community based apprenticeship programmes) the LVDC provides them with a start-up kit, comprising of essential tools and material.
