Our CMAVIL site in Villeta, Paraguay, is always looking for ways to create opportunities for women and empower them through training, education, social participation, and new means of generating incomes for their families. They also extend these same opportunities for youth, especially in a region with high dropout rates and minimal access to higher education.
In 2018, the site launched a three-year “Endeavoring Together” Program. This would provide vulnerable women free training in in-demand skills that they can use to either find employment or start their own businesses.
These courses were opportunities that no one wanted to pass up. By taking away the barrier of tuition fees, the participants felt excited to try new things and to learn new skills.
The first cohort of 391 mothers, fathers, and young people completed the program in 2022 and they launched the new three-year program in 2023.
Over the past year, 214 participants embarked on one or more courses of interest. The courses included technical subjects, such as the industrial electrician installation course, technical electronics assistant, and industrial electrical installation design. There were business courses such as executive secretarial studies and customer service.
For the more hands-on learners, there was hairdressing, sewing/garment-making, and faux flower-making. They also offered English courses, dance, a concert band, and gardening training for families.
“The training courses have gained a lot of interest among families,” says Sr. Marcelina. “They offer the possibility of acquiring knowledge, demonstrating abilities and skills, and above all, discovering that each person has capacities that were not discovered for a long time.”
Paraguay’s National Ministry for Work and Employment also made courses free online, which many CMAVIL learners took advantage of. They learned valuable skills such as international trade logistics, labour legislation, cosmetology, and stock management.
Partnering with the local parish and municipality, “this unique force that makes it possible for all of us together to achieve what we so desire: empowered families, young people who excel professionally, children on the right path to a complete education.”
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