Building Futures in Central America

It's been a tough year for 16-year-old Irma Jocol.

Her older brother, a taxi driver, was killed on the job. In Guatemala, where most street crimes go unsolved, nobody is quite sure why. Irma's mother struggles with bouts of depression, which often keeps her away from her job and puts more strain on the already financially strapped family.

Despite it all, Irma is not just coping, she is thriving.

"You know, I still have my bad days when all I want to do is cry. But I have people who support me and I feel like I have a purpose and a future," she says.

Her purpose these days: to help build a community center where children will receive tutoring in Puente Belice, one of Guatemala City's most dangerous neighborhoods.

Each afternoon, Irma and 24 of her classmates from an alternative school, Proyecto Educativo Laboral Puente Belice (Puente Belice Vocational Education Project), are bused to a job site where they learn the ins and outs of construction. From laying the foundation to erecting the walls, Irma's crew does it all. In the process, they learn valuable job skills and gain self-confidence while investing in their community.

The money they're paid is just icing on the cake, says Irma, who uses her salary to contribute toward household expenses.

The project is part of Jóvenes Constructores (Young Builders), a Catholic Relief Services effort throughout Latin America that guides youth toward productive, meaningful lives and away from gangs by providing vocational and life skills training and part-time jobs. Participants are selected from families that survive on less than $2 per day. In the process of fostering the skills young people need for success in the workforce, Jóvenes Constructores builds a positive, challenging alternate community to replace the broken communities in which so many of them now live.

Background

Wherever joblessness is rife, there is a lack of education and family violence is widespread, the pull of gangs is especially strong. In Guatemalan cities, only 57 percent of all school-age children attend school. About 16,000 youth in the country's capital, Guatemala City, are involved in gangs.