LANSERIA
Robyn Kirk
robynk@caxton.co.za
The Vibrant Community Projects non-profit organisation hosted a career expo at the Refilwe Community Hall in Lanseria for 1 500 pupils from two local schools in the area surrounding Lanseria Airport.
The pupils from Kwena Molapo High School in Northern Farm and St. Ansgar’s Combined School off the R512 in Lanseria had the opportunity to learn about potential careers and the educational requirements in a number of fields.
“Education in terms of career guidance is scarce for many children,” said Katja Schmidt, the owner of Vibrant Community Projects and one of the event organisers.
“We hope that [this expo] will help get these young people motivated to think about where they are taking their lives, and to have an open mind about their futures.”
School children who attended started their day with a motivational talk from a special guest speaker, such as a local business leader, before they were encouraged to visit the dozens of business stalls in the hall from a wide variety of businesses, including Absa, Woolworths and Oracle to find out about potential career paths.
There were also compulsory workshops throughout the day which educated pupils about how to apply to tertiary institutions and other knowledge necessary for pupils to plan for their future.
“I think this expo is amazing,” said Pretty Koboti (15), one of the pupils of Kwena Molapo High School who attended the expo.
“We can learn a lot about what kind of work is out there. I personally think that I want to be a lawyer or a pilot.”
Although Vibrant Community Project is based in Randpark Ridge, they had worked in the area previously and decided it would be the best place to host such an expo.
Staff spent three months planning and organising the event, which is the first of its kind hosted by the organisation, although they hope it isn’t the last. “We want to learn from our first expo and in the future take the idea to other communities,” said Schmidt.
“We’re not sure yet about the details of the next one, we need to finish this one up first, but anyone who wants to help us organise one of these in the future is welcome to contact us.”
You can find out more information and volunteer to help with future career expos by emailing katja@vibrantcommunityprojects.org
