Fight Poverty: Educate Women in Panama

If you don't know Carmela, she graduated back in July and I promised to update you on her progress.

A few weeks after Carmela graduated from the CAPTA program, she worked for one month in "Las Clementinas," a Casco Antiguo hotel. For one month, she developed excellent relationships with her co-workers, superiors, as well as the hotel's frequent clients. Unfortunately, after just one month, Carmela had to quit her job.

Carmela tells us that the reason she had to leave was because she was thrown out of the place where she lived. In urban cities it is very common for gang members to take over abandoned buildings but other people such as Carmela, who have no training, employment and 4 children to look after also live in these buildings and daily take on the risk of living among gang members.  Due to escalating conflicts related to the gang members who occupied the building, Carmela was faced with the decision to leave her home to better safeguard herself and her children.

Soon after she made the decision to leave, she found another abandoned building where she could live with her children; but just two weeks after, the building collapsed and she was forced once again to go back to the building she left filled with gang members.

Carmela is now looking for employment, she has applied to several places and is waiting for one to call back. "Life continues to put obstacles in my way; the difference now is that I've been through CAPTA and I know how to make better decisions." "I have learned to think first and not do the crazy things I used to do."

Even though she isn’t working, Carmela thinks about projects that she could do in her community. For example, she sought out our dance instructor for the ENLACES program which teaches at risk children modern dance and suggested a dancing project in her community with the children that live in her building. She hopes that this initiative will bring positive new activities to her community.

During December you can help Carmela by making a recurring donation to this program or to our CONEXION program. A recurring donation of only $20 will be matched by a Global Giving secret donor and you can secure Carmela the constant follow up visits she needs to succeed. We will continue to visit Carmela and help her as much as we can, but we need your continued support for this to happen.

From Fundacion Calicanto: Happy Holidays and thank you for all the support you have already given!!