By Deron Denton
Whether it’s the result of learning leadership skills in our Youth Program, learning a vocation through Into Employment, or helping families and communities find ways to avoid some of the pitfalls of poverty, sponsorship itself is a great success story. Here are two reasons why...
Nineteen-year-old Fredy believes in setting goals. What sets him apart from many others is that Fredy also believes in himself…and in doing the hard work needed to achieve his goals. Much of that determination and the skills needed to overcome hurdles, he believes, were honed as a sponsored youth.
“I always participated in the youth programs,” he says. “I was part of the Youth Health Corps and the Youth Council.”
Thanks to a little help and a lot of hard work, Fredy is happily and gainfully employed…and he plans to keep setting and achieving his goals.
His first major goal was to complete his secondary education, which he accomplished almost two years ago. After that, Fredy tells us he immediately set his sights on another goal: finding a job that would allow him to keep studying finance at university.
Fredy was consistently denied good jobs because of a lack of experience and training. But thanks to his continued involvement with the agency and the youth programs, Fredy was among the first to learn about Into Employment when it began in Guatemala a little over a year ago. The skills he learned and the help he received – especially in regard to interviewing techniques – was, he says, “something I could never imagine.”
Fredy is now working in the credit department of one of the largest banks in the world, earning significantly more money than his family’s previous combined household income. Still living with his family, Fredy feels great that he now contributes to his family’s well-being in such a positive way.
He adds that he feels transformed…that he is no longer a struggling youth hoping for a lucky break. Fredy now has certificates proving he has marketable skills, as well as a good work record that demonstrates actual experience. “Most importantly,” he says with a smile, “I have everything I’ve learned treasured in my mind.”
Sylvia, a mother of two sponsored children from our Jalisco, Mexico, agency, has had a big change of heart regarding sports. Two years ago, she admits, she found soccer – and all sports – a boring and inconsequential endeavor. Now, though, sports have become an essential part of her and her family’s life.
The genesis of this change was innocent enough: she went to watch her two sons – Misael, 12, and Fernando, 6 – play a game of soccer that was being organized via our Game On! program. Our Game On! Youth Sports™ program, developed by the International Alliance for Youth Sports, gives underserved kids the chance to play in organized sports leagues.
While Misael and Fernando were playing, one of the Game On! facilitators noticed Sylvia and asked her if she’d like to be a coach. She was told that they needed to recruit more coaches as the program was expanding to more children.
“I decided to do it because of my children,” says Sylvia. “We live in a densely populated area with many negative influences, and I was worried.” She saw the Game On! program as a way to help keep more children on a positive path.
Sylvia and her older son Misael, have both seen many positive changes in their own lives - and in their community - since joining the Game On! program."
Happily, this is not an uncommon story…we often hear about the positive chain reaction sponsorship ignites. A child receives help, and the parents see what a difference it makes. One or both parents decide to become volunteers with their agency, doing things that improve their neighborhoods and, ultimately, entire communities are lifted by the effects of sponsorship.
Sylvia now coaches five teams of different ages. And for someone who couldn’t have cared less about sports just two years ago, Sylvia is pretty enthusiastic about being a coach now. When she sees how much fun the children have while playing, she says, “It just makes your mouth drop open in surprise. It’s obvious that they’re happy. It feels really nice to know that with the work you’re doing, you’re keeping them away from drugs, from violence. That you’re their guide. And in one way or another, they get what we’re telling them.”
In addition to changed attitudes, Sylvia sees how being more active is improving children’s health. Sylvia tells us that both her sons are especially vulnerable to respiratory infections. Thanks to Game On!, she has seen an improvement in their health.
And this reminds Sylvia of one more thing she loves about the program. “We don’t discriminate,” she says. “All of them play. They are not pressured and they all receive encouragement… they all win. And to me, this is beautiful. There are many positive things here!”
Photos and reporting assistance by Azucena Gollaz from Jalisco, Mexico, and Javier Cárcamo from Guatemala City, Guatemala.
