Transforming 4000 lives thru technology Venezuela

La Pradera is a poor barrio located in one of the highest areas of La Vega, life there is hard:  to get there you have to take four-wheel drive transportation,water rarely comes through the pipes, and electricity also fails on many occasions, many people have to cook with firewood. From there you can see Caracas in the distance, like a beautiful postcard. It is in this place where the Entrepreneurship Program was carried out by our Superatec's trainers, which assisted victims of violence who, due to lack of opportunities, did not have a job to support themselves and their families. 70 young women participated in the Program that offered tools to develop skills that would allow them to start a business.

Superatec trained  participants in life skills, digital inclusion, Financial Education and Entrepreneurship, while they were learning tasks, such as bakery, shoe weaving, hairdressing and barbering from our NGO partner Vicaria del Nazareno de la Pradera.

Isangeli, Romeli and Vivian are some of the girls who joyfully knead the bread, cakes and rolls that will become their livelihood through ventures they carry out in their own homes.

Yessica, on the other hand, has planned to set up a unisex beauty salon, in her home with hairdressing and barber services, so that she can take care of her 3 small children at the same time.

On Certification Day, as final activity, an Eucharistic celebration was held and a trade fair where the graduates showed the knowledge they had acquired and sold their products to the attendees at affordable prices.

23 years ago was born Astrid in La Vega, a poor and dangerous slum located at the west of the city of Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, where she lived until January 2016 when she moved to Washington DC.

Astrid is an example of self-improvement, tenacity and hard work. After studying in a nearby school, she entered to the SUPERATEC’s Training Program in which she learned skills in technology, human development and job training that complemented her high school studies. After that, she applied for a scholarship in the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, UCAB, where she obtained a degree in Social Communication.

One of the most important television networks in Venezuela hired her last year, but soon she won an internship in the Inter-American Development Bank, IDB. She made such a good work that she was offered to be a consultant in the same Institution, where she is working at the present moment.

Now enjoying the cultural and social life in DC, Astrid remembers the old days, and looks forward to come back some day in order to return her community and her country her knowledge, love and work. “In a world where professional skills are very important, it is necessary to have an integral education that could go beyond the regular content of a classroom. In that sense, the training Superatec gave me was the key to my development. I not only learned technological tools that I currently use in the workplace, but I also learned values that make the difference in a vulnerable context. Thanks Superatec and all those who support this initiative by endorsing the reality of communities and open windows for overcoming young people who just need a chance”. In few words Astrid says “Education has been the springboard to reach my goals”.

We, in SUPERATEC are very happy and proud to be a link in the long chain that have lead Astrid in her way to success in her personal and professional life.