Your Investment in Students is Returning Smiles of Success

June 2nd, 2017, marked our four-year anniversary as an official non-profit organization. Your generous contributions each year have made a profound difference in the lives of children and youth in Liberia. Your gracious commitment to walk this journey with us in building and growing a grassroots organization allows us to serve ambitious and eager Liberian youth. Your compassion and dedication are what lights the hearts and minds of Liberia's promising young stars. Your unyielding support makes this all happen and we are eternally grateful. Thank you.

June 1st is the start of our fourth month of vocational training courses. Our nine-month courses will reach their halfway mark on June 15th. The results of these first four months are astounding. As our faithful partners in doing good, you have enabled youth to acquire skills that they can apply with confidence. During the next five to seven months, our students will require more materials to achieve their course requirements. 

This month we will be launching our "Become a Classroom Hero" campaign to raise funds for five courses that need extra learning materials to ensure they receive the marketable skills to graduate and start a job or business. This post will share some of the latest photos of various courses and students accomplishments. You will soon see how your investment is returning smiles of success on the faces of our students.

Auto Mechanics Course

Kelvin Fomba, UDS Co-Founder and Country Director, works with his students three times a week and most of the time they are working on vehicles. At times, Kelvin provides classroom lectures when they are moving onto a new concept. The two photos below are from a classroom discussion on June 1st.

You encourage these students to learn.

You engage these students in asking questions to understand.

Computer Training

This is our largest course with over 40 students divided into four classes that meet three times a week. Our students are nearing the end of the Microsoft Word section. Saturday, June 3rd, all students from each class took a test to measure their knowledge of Microsoft Word. The students walked way feeling confident and proud of what they are learning. Kelvin, who is also one of the teachers of this course, said, "I cannot afford to stop doing this because look at the smiles on these beautiful faces." 

Your generosity brought smiles to these beautiful faces.

You give these students the reason to focus on their exam.

You made this computer lab possible.

Your continued support uplifts our student's spirits.

Cosmetology Course

The students in this course are advancing each and every day. In these first four months, they went from plaiting (braiding) hair that was tied on a string to working on each other or volunteers. They also are now providing manicures with custom designs on artificial. They continue to provide free haircuts to children in the neighborhood to gain experience and give back.

You spark that inner talent of each student.

You give our students reason to enjoy their work.

You encourage her to be precise and thoughtful in her work.

You guide students to produce results like these nails.

You are the example for these students to give back.

Plumbing Course

We'd like finally to introduce this 12-month course. This is one of the courses that is need of learning materials. The instructor has received periodic contracts which he can bring the students into the field and apply the knowledge they learn during their lectures. Gratefully, the instructor has been bringing some of the tools and materials to give practical application of this trade. Our goal for this course is to provide the tools, pipes and fittings, and other basic materials so that they can understand how to install or repair any plumbing in between opportunities to go in the field.

Your dedication motivates these students to learn despite the challenges.

The instructor is empowered by you to share his knowledge with these young minds.

Tailoring Course

This 9-month course started two months after the other ones. We have provided sewing course in the past such as our Backpacks for Peace Service Learning Project. We have an interest in this course but students are struggling to pay the $75 fee. Again as we shared before, most of this is returned to the students in uniforms, ID Cards, and basic learning materials such as course handouts. We started with four students and increased to six. Students that are in their later twenties or earlier thirties are showing a greater interest in tailoring.  

Students of all ages are welcomed to gain skills from your whole-hearted support.

Student ID Cards

After some search, we found someone to make our student ID cards. As each student received theirs in the last few days, they were beaming with pride. The ID Card and Uniform allow the students to identify as Rising Stars in our program.

Our students now wear their ID Cards with great pride because of you.

You should feel honored and proud of how your charitable deeds are changing young Liberian lives for the better. You have continued to invest in our students, and the return is not measured in dollars and cents, but in confidence and smiles. 

Thank you for being a valued and sustaining Star Supporter of Uniting Distant Stars children and youth!

Nurturing Hope

Once a year a day is set aside to honor the Mothers in our lives. There is a special quality often associated with mothers in how they care for their young children. You possess this special quality through your unyielding support of children and youth in Liberia. You are Nurturing Hope with each and every generous gift you have made to help students learn new knowledge and skills in our vocational training center. 

Thank you for helping this student learn how to bake!

You are the reason students show up each day to class to apply and practice what they are receiving from their teachers. 

Thank you for helping these young men and women become auto mechanics!

Thank you for giving students opportunities to practice their skills!

Your heart can smile knowing that you are bringing significate changes to lives of young Liberians in order to thrive.  

Thank you for inspiring students to harness their creativity!

Thank you for giving students the tools to learn! 

Thank you for your Nurturing Hope and being the difference in the lives of children and youth in Liberia!

Building Community One Star at a Time

As a valued Star Supporter, your continued generosity inspires our team in Liberia to move forward with our vision and fulfill the dreams of Uniting Distant Stars children and youth. You are Uniting with Distant Stars in Denmark, Liberia, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates. You are part of this growing stellar community that is educating and equipping young Liberians with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed in life. You have united with other stars to form a Constellation of Possibilities for young Liberians.

You probably have not realized this, but you are a Super Star for our children and youth in Liberia. Whether you support our learning center, school supply drive, youth exchanges or sponsor a scholarship student, you are changing the lives of young Liberians for the better. Our youth are extremely grateful for your efforts!

While our focus for the last few months was on school supplies, our team in Liberia have been busy with renovations of the new learning center. As mentioned earlier, your efforts inspires our all-volunteer team in Liberia. They wrote letters to individuals and organizations in Liberia to raise funds. They received $600 that helped complete replacing the roof. UDS co-founder and country director Kelvin Fomba has been making contributions to finish the ceiling repairs, start painting in the interior, and making furniture for students. Our volunteers have helped with the cleaning and carpentry work. The following photos show the progress from the last month:

You give UDS strength! Our volunteer completing final touches of the roof. 

You give UDS resourcefulness! Kelvin (at left) resting after making tables for young children attending our study classes.

You give UDS dedication! This room is being prepared for the library.

You give UDS focus! Young volunteers replacing the ceiling tile in the main area of  the learning center. 

You give UDS motivation! Kelvin is white washing the ceiling of the main area for the study & computer classes. 

You give UDS determination! Kelvin in the back white washing the ceiling while another volunteer rests.

You give UDS hope! Young volunteers fixing the doors. 

You give UDS encouragement! Kelvin painting the walls of the main area gold.

You give children & youth in Liberia a brighter future! 

You have helped build our community one star at a time. As you will see in the coming weeks, the UDS new learning center will open on October 29th. We will start with our computer & study classes, and library as we continue to complete the rest of the renovations, purchase needed equipment and supplies, and seek funders to employ Liberians as teachers, trainers and support staff for this center. 

Thank you for your compassionate service to children and youth in Liberia!

Read additional posts on how we acquired this new center and how invested our youth are in this venture of learning. 

• Reaching New Heights for Liberia's Children and Youth
• You received a Thank You from Liberia

Computer Training for Liberian Youth

The computer may be an integral part of homes, schools, and companies in developed nations but for Africans, it is a distant dream. This could be one of the reasons why young Africans are incapable of competing in the global market. For those aspiring to learn computer technology, they need to enroll and pay tuition at computer training centers separate from their schools.  When you add in the current economic and social barriers, it makes this training inaccessible when almost fifty percent of the African population live from hand to mouth.

Traditional schools and colleges in African nations have facilities for basic computer training, but tragically these can be outdated and unable to prepare graduates for competitive positions. Furthermore in Liberia, nearly 50% of the population is under the age of 15 when it is the right time for them to learn this technology.

Ironically in this information age, many graduates have never used a computer. Their inexperience drastically narrows job opportunities both at home and internationally. Technology is the mainstay in private and public sector companies, and jobs paying decent salaries demand computer proficiency. Currently, job applications are accepted as electronic forms only, thus depriving young Liberians of applying for entry-level vacancies due to insufficient computer knowledge as well as access to email and Internet facilities.

This is why Uniting Distant Stars (UDS) opened a Computer Lab in order to provide young Liberians with free training to become computer literate. UDS created an avenue for youth to develop basic computing skills and learn standard software applications. Students who complete this course will be better equipped to find and secure jobs in the future.

Written by Rodney Johnson, UDS Computer Trainer and Kelvin Fomba, UDS Co-Founder and Country Director

Introducing UDS Learning Center 2.0

Liberian children and youth witnessed their wishes being answered in the past two weeks. Uniting Distant Stars (UDS) raised $2,042 (shy of our $2,500 goal) from our generous Star Supporters to upgrade our Learning Center in Congo Town, Liberia. Our Liberian team led by Kelvin Fomba, Co-Founder and Country Director, went the extra mile to check off the items on the students' original wish list. In the last eight days another $360 was donated from new and existing benevolent supporters. Their gracious generosity will buy other items on the list such as fans to keep the center comfortable, additional books for the library, chalk board for instructors, and other crucial needs for its operations.

Like any good upgrade you need to have a release party. On Friday March 25, UDS Learning Center hosted two programs. The first one was organized by the UDS Youth Group. Since it was Good Friday, they focused on Easter. During this three-hour program they talked about the meaning of Easter, played some games, and also had a Bible quizzing contest between the boys and girls. They had two rounds with each having 20 questions and one question was worth 10 points. The boys and girls tied in the first round. However, in the second round the boys out scored the girls 120 to 80. Our Youth Group's program was a resounding success and everyone had a great time.

Youth Groups Program

UDS Youth Bible Quizzing Contest

The second program followed soon after to introduce our youth to the new UDS Computer Lab. They have eagerly waited for this lab ever since we started the upgrade campaign last year. The original plan was to have four computers, but Kelvin reached out to his connections and helped secure six used PCs--four laptops and two desktops. He is still negotiating on adding one or two more computers. Our team also built computer desks and bought a stabilizer to protect the PCs from power surges and outages, because electricity is neither consistent nor reliable. Another stabilizer will be purchased with the recent donations to ensure the electrical load is distributed evenly.

UDS Computer Lab

Our team expected 25 to 30 young Liberians to attend this three-hour program, but it attracted over 50. Computer training is in high demand with Liberian youth, but not everyone can afford to take courses at vocational training schools. This is why our team went all out in preparing the lab and its introduction program.

Kelvin Fomba introducing the computer lab.

Kelvin opened with how the computer lab will operate and its corresponding rules. Next part was to determine who would be the first recipients of this training course. Kelvin and his volunteers devised a raffle drawing to select trainees since there was a ratio of approximately four students to one computer. Our youth anxiously waited to hear who were the lucky winners as each name was pulled. Soon twelve students were chosen to attend one of two classes, because we wanted to accommodate as many as possible.

Liberian Youth learning about the new UDS Computer Lab

The students will learn about computer hardware, basic software and internet functions in this month-long course. Other students wanting to attend this course signed up on a list and will participate in computer theory classes as they wait their turn for the practical training. The training materials and curriculum for this program are being developed by our volunteers in Liberia and Minnesota.

UDS Youth learning about computers.

First Students of the UDS Computer Lab

Another part of the upgrade included expanding our library collection. On Monday March 14, two of our youth volunteers, Patrick and Princess, purchased 52 books from the list of requested titles and topics from our students. These books are required by their schools as part of the curriculum. Though our volunteers bought 80% of the books requested by the students, their list continues to grow. Eventually, we like to purchase additional copies of the main books to allow more than one student to use for their homework assignments.

Additional books purchased for the library

UDS Youth appreciating the new books.

The following day these new books were included in our studying classes. There are two objectives with these study classes as follows:

1. Students are asked a series of questions about the subject(s) and topic(s) for their assignments and are then shown how to find books in the library and search for the information within the book.
2. Students are given detailed instruction from one of volunteer teachers on a particular subject area that they are working on at school to help bolster their understanding and ability to apply it in their homework and exams.

Students receiving a tour of  the UDS library. 

UDS first opened our learning center over a year ago with a small library and providing skills training courses such as auto mechanics, drivers ed and Backpacks for Peace. In September 2015, it had its first upgrade with building extra shelves for additional books donated from the U.S. and more tables for students to complete their homework. This second upgrade was centered on the requests of our students to best meet their educational needs since their schools are not able to provide the required books and textbooks or computer labs. Through our growing community of bighearted supporters, our students are extremely grateful and overjoyed with seeing their wishes being fulfilled.

All of us at Uniting Distant Stars extend our heartfelt Thanks and Appreciation to our most generous Star Supporters!

Please read these additional posts about our learning center.

Enjoy a Tour of the UDS Learning Center in Liberia

Liberia: Read How UDS Learning Center Benefits Deborah