A Ganar - Workforce Development
Our Solution
Access to good jobs and the ability to earn a living wage are critical to breaking the cycle of poverty. A Ganar is a youth workforce development program designed to provide this opportunity specifically for youth who are neither working nor studying. Led by Partners of the Americas and financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) and private donors, A Ganar has been implemented in 16 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, and more than 12,000 youth have been trained, including more than 1,000 youth on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic. A Ganar at The DREAM Project is implemented as an intensive four-month vocational training program, which trains young people according to the needs of the labor market. The program utilizes soccer and other team sports to provide youth with the training, support and skills needed to secure a job and/or re-enter the formal education system.
A Ganar is composed of four phases:
• In the first phase, the program develops students’ work and life skills through sports and expands their knowledge of HIV/AIDS prevention, in addition to unplanned pregnancy, focusing on healthy decision-making and leadership.
• The second phase is more academic and vocational: customer service courses, intensive English, professional development (preparation of the curriculum vitae and success in the job interview) and personal development.
• In the third phase, we place young people in different businesses and job positions to carry out an 80-hour internship to gain work experience for future jobs and references.
• The fourth phase is the monitoring of graduates, who will receive support from DREAM to access jobs after graduation.
What our students say:
“My life has changed a lot. Now I have a stable job and a good salary income with a flexible schedule, which will allow me to study. I am motivated to help others, and I get more involved in activities to help young people with whom identify. A Ganar is synonymous with total improvement.”
— Dieumerci Jeantilus, Sabaneta de Cangrejos
“At school, they don't prepare us for life. They do not educate us to avoid early pregnancy or sexual illness. Sexual prevention classes have opened my eyes, and I have been able to protect myself more. They have helped me know the value I have, regardless of the bad influences in my environment.”
— Nachely Lopes Martinez, Montellano
