In Peru, a fundamental component of the House of Smile project consists in the job placement of the beneficiaries, who are adolescents and young mothers with a history of violence and abuse, often without any family support. We talked about it with Glenda Quiroz, a job placement specialist in Lima within the CESVI project.
What’s your role?
I am daily looking for local companies that are willing to collaborate in the education, training and job placement of young women in vulnerable situations.
What difficulties are you encountering?
It is the first time that I work within a social project. Our beneficiaries come from decidedly adverse and dramatic situations and it is difficult not to be influenced by their experience. I try to help them with sympathy, professionalism and concreteness, so that they can achieve important results for the continuation of their lives.
Best moment to date?
When I had individual meetings with the girls for the creation of their curriculum vitae. During a short interview, the beneficiaries shared their strengths and weaknesses with a look at what they expected from the labor market. During the interview, the motivations were reviewed: these were sessions that allowed them to get to know themselves and their expectations better.
Which laboratories did you help to activate?
I like to mention the gastronomy workshops because I saw that at the end of the sessions the girls had acquired new knowledge which was very useful for looking for a job.
Is there any story that particularly struck you?
Undoubtedly those of Marisol and Atalia, who I still see every week because of the workshops they are following. The confidence they’ve gained along the way is incredible. They are currently looking to launch a career in the restaurant industry, as a stepping stone to making their dreams come true. Their limit is the sky: they have so much potential inside them and where they will go depends only on them.