Fight Poverty: Educate Women in Panama

The CAPTA program from Calicanto Foundation has meant a real change in the Community of Panama. There are already over 1250 women who have changed their lives for the better, and have thereby improved the life of their family.

Undoubtedly, the donations we receive, both national and international, have helped us to sustain ourselves financially and reach more women each year. When we started this great project in 2005, we were able to graduate about 70 women per year. We are now close to 200 women per year, and we continue to grow thanks to the unconditional support of donors who come from all over the world.

We are now in Colon and Panama city, and we keep working to reach new communities in need. Right now we are working with our 4^th group in Panama and our 3^rd group in Colon this year. We will close the year with 2 more groups of 30 women each.

We feel that our results are important, but it is more important to show you what CAPTA women feel and think about the program. Next you will read an interview a volunteer had with Angela, a woman of our 4^th group in 2017:

1. How would you describe yourself?

I am a 27 year old woman, entrepreneur and unique. I am also an excellent mother of an 8 year old boy.

2. What does the Calicanto Foundation mean to you?

Calicanto Foundation means the beginning; Now I am able to undertake and achieve what I want to be in the future. For me it is a great opportunity because I feel I have a new mission in life that I have to fulfill and I will do my best to have a better quality of life. 

3. In what ways do you think the program helps the girls who enter it?

The CAPTA program is a support program for women who are most in need. It is for those women who want to fight for their dreams, but who have not yet managed to know how to do it. I feel that the same program gives the opportunity to those people who have not found necessary support in others. Thanks God there is the CAPTA program.

4. How do you see yourself in the future?

I see myself being a CAPTA woman who wants to teach everything she learns here to her Community, because they gave me the opportunity and I put it into practice whith my family and neighbors, so that we can change all our Community. The idea is to move forward together.

5. What does your family tell you about this decision you made to join the Foundation?

My mother is the most beautiful woman in the world and I have her support one hundred percent. My family supports me and that motivates me a lot to keep going.

6. What are you going to miss most about CAPTA?

 From the first day I arrived here I felt an inner emotion to know my the teachers, but at the same time I felt afraid for everything new that I was going to face, but now that fear is gone, and everything has changed. I will miss my friends; I will miss them very much. I have thought of that many times, we are great companions. I will also miss my teachers because I would have the desire to see them again in each of their classes; I will miss them very much.

7. Do you think the Foundation's work is important?

The Calicanto Foundation has many goals, and we are part of it, and that is very nice because it makes you feel important, part of something great. They have many goals of improvement outlined towards a surpassing and fighter woman, a woman ready to face any obstacle from the labor and personal areas.

I believe in what they do in support of women, and when I can I would like to support the Foundation and be a volunteer to help other women like me.

Links:

• Fundacion Calicanto Panama

In Calicanto Foundation year 2017 has come strong including a lot of changes. We are in a new office that we had to adapt to fit the needs of the program and the administrative team; also we had the challenge to work with 9 CAPTA groups, 4 in Colon city and 5 in Panama City.

We are also beginning a new project to ensure the sustainability of the foundation and give the women an opportunity to practice in a different working area than Housekeeper.

Since January we have worked with:

24 women in CAPTA 1 Panama

22 women in CAPTA 2 Panama

23 women in CAPTA 3 Panama

26 women in CAPTA 1 Colon

22 women in CAPTA 2 Colon 

Summarizing 117 women trained from January to July 2017.

We work with groups of 20 to 30 women per CAPTA, so our goal is that all the women that enter the course finish the vocational and the fundamental cycle, with a dropout rate of 9% (Colon City) and 2% (Panama city) we know we are achieving our goal. Also we organize an employment fair and we invite different organizations to participate and interview the girls for a job opportunity. 

We want the CAPTA women become economically independent individuals and agents of positive change in their community.  

The statistics speak for themselves: 74% of CAPTA graduates are working, most of them in the restaurant industry.

We work every day to ensure that all our graduates have job opportunities or even become entrepreneurs with a business of their own.

CAPTA is a program that helps women to dream and make that dream a reality. It teaches them to believe in themselves and to respect themselves, to be a role model for their children, family and community.

Testimony of Erika- CAPTA 2 Panama

“Good afternoon companions, donors and Calicanto team. It is my pride to talk to each of you on behalf of all my companions. I would like to tell you how I feel about CAPTA program. It’s not only a training to get a job, it’s a program that transforms lives, it did it with mine, today I am a different person thanks to the decision to take this course.

I would like to thank all those people who have made this possible, I made the decision because, as you can see, I’m an one of the oldest women in the group that’s why it was difficult for me to get a job, but I needed a job. My daughter helped with the family expenses, but she moved and suddenly it was more difficult for me to meet the expenses all by my own. I learned about this program through a niece, a friend of hers saw the ad on social media and I took the opportunity.

It has been the most enriching experience and the most successful decision I have ever made.

Before the course I was an insecure person, I hardly laughed. I am now a completely different person than I was before. Here I learned of fellowship, commitment, solidarity. I learned to value myself, I learned that if I wanted to be respected I must also respect myself. One of the classes that I can mention is Self-esteem; I went from being an insecure woman to standing today in front of you talking about my personal life without pain or fear. From Assertive Communication I learned how to say things without hurting people.

For me, the most difficult part of the program was leaving things aside so I could arrive early and be punctual. It was difficult because in the process there were changes, I told my family that this was a complete change that was happening in my life.

To the future women who will enter CAPTA, I want to tell you that it’s not only a training, it’s something deeper, more special. I feel that things have improved for me.

I am already fulfilling my goals, one of them was to be able to graduate from this program and today I can say with certainty that I’m an empowered woman, empowered was a word that I didn’t even know the meaning before being here.

To all women who need a person by their side to feel safe and protected: I want to tell you that everything that you seek in another person, you can find in yourself. Get up every morning, smile at life even in the midst of problems.

Thanks again to all the people who make this program possible and congratulations girls.”

Since 2005 we have worked with more than 1000 women, and counting. We strongly believe in second opportunities, in empowering women and teaching them to be a positive role model in their families and communities.

If we change a woman, we change a family. If we change a family, we change a community.