From Theory to Practice

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In 2023, the motto for us and our partners in the respective projects was: “Hands on!”
Our Vocational Education and Training Partnership (BBP) with AMER and the IICM in Mozambique entered its second phase, while the BBP with Motheo TVET College in South Africa was launched. The year 2024 will now be all about implementing the activities laid out in 2023.
Back in November, Frank Dorstel, master car mechanic and service manager at Autohaus Berkemeier, was on an expert mission to our partner institute IICM in Maputo, Mozambique. Among other things, a concept for the advanced training of vocational school teachers was developed. A workshop check-up was also carried out, in which the workshop organisation and equipment were analysed and suggestions for improvement were developed.
Our TVET partner in South Africa, Motheo TVET College in Bloemfontein, will primarily focus on networking with the private sector under the IRESA umbrella in this year. Expert workshops on site are also scheduled to be held.
Frank Tischner and Jörg Kersten conducted a successful marketing workshop in Jordan with their expert mission at the Aqaba National Vocational Training Hub (ANVT). Further specialist workshops are planned for 2024.
We look forward to a productive 2024 and successful projects with our partners and colleagues!

Education work internationally in Jordan

The educational work of the Steinfurt Warendorf District Association of Skilled Crafts is always regional, but also always international.

On behalf of the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH) and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Steinfurt Warendorf District Chamber of Skilled Crafts is implementing a project in Jordan financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development that includes consulting and training services for better employment opportunities for youth, young adults and women in the skilled crafts sector. Another focus is on designing an image campaign for the skilled trades in Jordan. At present, KH Chief Executive Frank Tischner and Head of Education International Aika Drescher are in Amman. Her topics are the second phase of the image campaign for Jordanian crafts, the talks with politicians, visits and planning of outreach to and with partner organizations, and also the area of establishing renewable energy.

First on the agenda was a visit to the partner organization Princess Taghrid Institute (PTI), where several training sessions in the bakery trade have already been held by dedicated master bakers and confectioners from our region and are due to be held again soon. There Frank Tischner could also hand over the generous donation of the insurance broker agency DHG from Emsdetten, which would like to support the work of the Kreishandwerkerschaft and had equipped a large suit-case with many kinds of equipment for the baker training. Subsequently, a coordination meeting on the second phase of the image campaign took place at the partner organization EFE (Education for Employment). Online access was provided by short-form experts Jörg Kersten and Miriam Benassi, who helped develop and implement the campaign, which will be published shortly.

Image campaign for Jordanian crafts launched

The district crafts association provided several experts in the fields of crafts marketing, social media management and strategic public relations, who closely supported the Jordanian partners in creating the campaign. Together with the organization EFE Jordan (http://efejordan.org/) and a Jordanian PR agency, the campaign was planned, materials developed and staff trained on site. Consultation took the form of both outreach in Jordan and – even more so in the age of Corona – continuous digital exchange from Germany. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. KH works locally as a contractor for the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).

The campaign is intended to help increase appreciation for the skilled trades in Jordan and get more young people, parents and companies interested in skilled trades. A key objective is also to help combat the high level of youth unemployment in Jordan. Jordan faces the challenge of integrating millions of refugees from Syria, Iraq and the Palestinian territories into the labor market. This is where the skilled trades can be an important partner.

“We are very satisfied with the results that are now available,” says Frank Tischner, General Manager of the Steinfurt-Warendorf District Chamber of Crafts. “The German-Jordanian cooperation really proved its worth in this project, because it allowed us to optimally combine our knowledge of the local conditions in Jordan and KH’s many years of experience with public relations work relating to the skilled trades. Jan-Niclas Gesenhues, head of the “Vocational Training International” department at KH, adds: “In addition to the good materials for the campaign, we were also able to achieve another goal with this project, which is of great value in development cooperation: The Jordanian colleagues were trained concretely on the practical project and thus gained important experience for their further professional path. “

The implementation of the image campaign not only enjoys the highest priority at GIZ in Jordan, but is also expressly supported by the Jordanian Ministry of Labor, as representatives of the district crafts association were able to ascertain several times in direct talks with the ministry. Against the background of the good results, it is planned that the Jordanian craft campaign will be continued in the coming years.