WORKSHOPS

Carpentry Workshop “Saint Joseph” 

In the carpentry workshop „Saint Joseph“, the young adults have the opportunity to learn how to elaborate different wooden products (e.g. napkin holders, serving trays, pic-nic tables, coffee strainers, and many more). It is by means of this training that the students can learn a trade, generating their own financial incomes and in this way improving the quality of life of not only themselves but their families, too. They acquire theoretical as well as practical knowledge, as well as being taught standards in hygiene and safety in their work space. 

CLEANING MOP WORKSHOP 

Through the training in this workshop, the students are encouraged towards good habits such as respect, solidarity, responsibility, order, cleanliness, and discipline. All the while, they experience the satisfaction of completing a project from start to finish with an end-product of excellent quality. In the process of making the cleaning mops by hand, they begin by cutting a few simple threads of string and finish with the packaging, sealing, and storage of the finished mop. 

Two types of cleaning mop are currently elaborated by our students: 1 lb or 1¼ lb. The mops have a length of 27 inches and are 6 inches wide. The students elaborate the mops in accordance with their individual skills and ability. 

In this workshop, students also elaborate on brown paper bags of different sizes, ideal for the packaging of gifts. 

SEWING AND DRESSMAKING WORKSHOP 

In the sewing and dressmaking workshop, the students acquire knowledge and skills related to the processes of sewing, guided by the teacher of the workshop. Their individual learning process is adapted to their skills. Products from this workshop include skirts, sprones, tablecloths, napkins, curtains, sheets, pillowcases, pillows, etc. 

This workshop allows students to generate their own income, to reproduce products made in class in their own homes. In earning their own money, they may contribute to their family´s income and quality of life as well as their own. In some cases, the students from this workshop find employment in a local sewing workshop or a more industrial factory.  

PLANT NURSERY “SAINT SEBASTIAN” 

In the plant nursery, students with disability have the opportunity of complementing their learning process in the other workshops. The students are taught how to keep the plant nursery tidy by raking fallen leaves, sowing new plants, irrigating them, etc.  

With the skills acquired by working in the plant nursery, the young adults can process to sow their own plants at home or learn how to work as gardeners.  

The main focus of the plant nursery lies on the sale of different palm tree varieties as well as ornamental plants. 

ORGANIC FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GARDEN 

The main activities of this project consist in designing and implementing training programs for the students as well as teachers of Asociación Antorcha, generating among them a conscience for the importance of the cultivation and consumption of chemical-free produce. 

The training programs include: 

• Learning how to sow, harvest, and sell organic produce 
• Learning how to elaborate organic fertilizer 

• The cultivation of a worm compost 
• Teaching how to install fruit and vegetable gardens without the use of chemicals (this program is destined especially towards the students, so that they may grow to produce in their own homes for their consumption but also generating possibilities of self-employment in selling their own garden produce e.g. to neighbors) 

Giving continuity to the programs listed above has become an integral part of sustaining the existing plant nursery with ornamental plants and flowers, (e.g. using our own fertilizer and compost) as the quality of the plants we sell has improved; the production has amplified and diversified.   

Our experience with the training programs has been documented in a video, in order to share what we have learned with other organizations striving to shape their communities. After seeing the impact of the four gardens we established in students´ homes as part of the program, we developed four additional gardens independently. We want to continue promoting self-sustainability and self-employment for students. In total, we have established eight home gardens, each for one student and their respective family. 

All of this has been realized thanks to the support we have received from Fundación MAPFRE through its project called “Formando Comunidad”. 

THANK YOU TO FUNDACION MAPFRE FOR ITS GENEROUS SUPPORT