In Peru, growing up in a dangerous neighborhood represents a series of challenges that place young people in situations of social risk. There are few programs that address mental health and provide opportunities for development. With the Change Makers Training Program, we try to accompany the growth of young people in the project, developing skills, improving their level of well-being and creating a support network that benefits them and their community.
The Alto Peru community is exposed to different adverse situations for the people who live there, such as crime, drug sales, gangs, lack of opportunities, among others. Young people in the community are not alien to these situations and face them daily. Growing up in this context represents a real challenge for them that can cause school dropouts, adolescent pregnancy, little ability to set future goals or initiate criminal activities.
It is important to provide sustainable support that allows young people to develop skills and tools to face life. For this reason, a Change Makers Training Program is proposed, which seeks to develop leadership skills, promote leadership in their communities and the possibility of visualizing different alternatives from those offered by the context. Currently, the young people who participate in the training program are leading different spaces within Alto Peru.
The Change Makers Training Program will reach 20 young people each year. At the end of the program, they will have acquired leadership tools and socio-emotional skills that will lead them to be positive references for their community. In this way, young people are incorporated into the virtuous circle where they will transmit their knowledge to the boys and girls of the neighborhood, who in the long term will be able to become change makers and continue with this cycle.
