Vocational Program

Fundi: A Bantu word used for “craftsman” or “tradesman”

A vocational program is a program that provides job specific training and technical skills needed to perfect a trade. Often called a trade school, these are used in Kenya to help the native villagers learn a trade well enough to produce their own income to become self sufficient. Once the skill or trade is acquired the person will then be available for employment in that field.

Brickmaking

Bricks are an important part of masonry construction. There are specific ways to ensure the quality of the bricks that will be used or sold. Missions for Orphans has done research in brick making in Kenya to ensure that bricks and material manufactured will be of high caliber. This makes the buildings being built with these bricks to have structural integrity. The proportions of sand to clay in Kenya are vastly different than that of the proportions in other industrialized countries. The research has shown that the proportions of sand to clay depends on the clay quality and the consistency of the sand. Bricks need to have standard characteristics if they are to be used in construction.
Missions for Orphans works to teach the step by step process of manufacturing bricks from raw materials, cutting, drying and firing. Once this skill is learned, they can then continue their skills into the making of cement, as well as into learning concrete finishing, and finally into building construction.

Seamstress Schooling

Due to cultural traditions in Kenya, women are undervalued and often unemployed. Women are not able to provide for themselves and their families if widowed or single. Missions for Orphans works to help women to earn income that will assist them in providing for their families and gain independence. This is done through the education of the trade of becoming a seamstress.

When taught to work with the sewing machine they will have the skills to produce garments from scratch, with material purchased inorder to sell them for a profit. Upon completion of the program and after graduation, each person who finishes the class, a sewing machine and material is provided for the start of their own business.

Each Sewing machine is 10000 Kenyan Shillings ($100 American Dollars)

Welding

Welding is a fabrication of materials, usually metals, that are joining together through the application of heat. Welding is a trade that is valuable in Kenya in the construction industry. Missions for Orphans teach these skills through an American volunteer who visits Kipsaina annually. Welding offers a great variety of job opportunities because the basic skills of welding are the same across the board.

Cement Masonry

Cement masons and concrete finishers perform specialized masonry work with poured concrete and finished concrete. The founder of Missions for Orphans, Coney Orosco, is a retired cement mason and concrete finisher who has worked in construction for 40 years. Because of the skills learned during his profession he is able to help the Kenyan people of Kipsaina to perfect their trade.
Working with the cement masons taught by Coney, the local villagers have built 2 primary schools and 2 churches along with many widows homes that have been donated by supporters of Missions for Orphans.