By Rodrigo Iriani and Quimey del Rio | Project Lead
Another year is coming to an end, and The Trust for the Americas celebrates the results we have achieved with your help in Brazil and across Latin America. Since 2005, our flagship program, POETA (Partnership for Economic Opportunities through Technology in the Americas), has positively impacted the lives of many youths in the western hemisphere. This past year, we launched a new program to foster innovation and disruptive solutions in the region. Democratizing Innovation in the Americas (DIA) aims to strengthen our work in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In partnership with UNILEHU, the POETA centers in Brazil train youth with disabilities and equip them with job readiness skills crucial for their successful job inclusion. So far, 2016 can be summarized in 4571 indirect beneficiaries, 821 direct beneficiaries, and 786 economic opportunities in Brazil. We would like to share one of our many success stories.
Wendel is a young man from Brasilia. He lives with his father, mother and his three brothers. He has an intellectual disability. His father needs to work on two jobs to support the family, installing air conditioners and as a security guard in a hospital.
Wendel learned about the POETA program over the Internet, and decided to participate on the training courses of the POETA center. Even though he is a struggling student, he wanted to learn because he knows he needs to be prepared to achieve his goals and go to college. He studies during the mornings while he works on the afternoon. The Digital Literacy course at POETA strengthened the abilities needed in his current job as an apprentice at the Secretariat of Agriculture. “POETA helped me a lot in my day-to-day, performing my duties in a much more efficient way”.
Wendel graduated from school and with his current salary he paid for the ENEM (high school national exam) preparation course. “My dream is to be a doctor because I come from a poor family so I want to be a general practitioner or a family doctor to help people”, says Wendel convinced.
We are very proud on the impact of our programs. Wendel, as many other youths in the region, should have the possibility of living a better future. We cordially invite you to keep supporting our efforts to build a better future for youth in Latin America and the Caribbean. A small donation can mean a big help for providing more and new opportunities to vulnerable communities in the region.
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By Valeria Massarelli | Intern
By Quimey Del Rio and Javier Monterroso | Project Officers
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