To Celebrate International Youth Day on August 12, we are sharing success stories of Dominican youth who have found and taken advantage of new career and personal development opportunities with support from the United States Government.
Lucy
Every day, young mothers such as Lucy seek opportunities to build a better future for their children. Lucy’s desire to overcome all obstacles led her to participate in the Bank Cashier courses offered by the Alerta Joven program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Government through USAID. This program allows young mothers to receive training and finish school, while their children are taken care of at daycare centers. This training allowed Lucy to think about new goals, such as going to the university. Learn more about our program for young mothers in at-risk situations at alertajoven.com.
Yeury
Yeury Estévez is a young man from the Ingenio Arriba neighborhood in the Santiago Province. He had to overcome a childhood marked by child labor. Today, Yeury has a new opportunity thanks to the training he received through the Alerta Joven program. Learn more about our program for at-risk youth at alertajoven.com.
Verónica
International Youth Day celebrates youth empowerment and young people’s potential as agents of change. Veronica represents this ideal. Since she was a child, she was harassed due to her physical appearance, which led her to think that she would not be able to accomplish any of her goals. Through Alerta Joven, she joined the Haina Youth Network, a space for youth engagement which contributes to community development and empowers youth on public policy issues.
Today, Veronica is finishing high school and preparing to study Education at the university, and through her story she helps other women and girls feel confident about their worth.
Samuel
On International Youth Day, we celebrate cases such as that of young Samuel, which prove that you can always begin again. Samuel had no idea that an invitation to one of the technical courses offered by Alerta Joven and sponsored by the U.S. Government through USAID would save his life, allowing him to distance himself from crime and violence.
The Restaurant Waiter course taught Samuel a better way to make money, and thanks to what he learned he was hired by one of the leading chains in the country, Catalonia Hotels.
Samuel was able to establish boundaries in order to avoid falling into crime again, and now he is focused on finishing his high school studies and continuing on his path to success.
