Meet the Students

Student: Miriam Daier

Here’s a letter that we received from one student at FEDES’s Vocational School this year:

    Dear FEDES Foundation,
    I want to say a whole hearted thank you for what you’ve given us – the opportunity to learn and open a door to overcoming our circumstances. I feel this is a truly great institution, where people really care for and respect its students. I know that I will never forget you. I learned so much, far more than I expected in the “Care for the Sick” course. Our teacher is an extraordinary woman who taught us so much. I’ll never forget her either. I’ve always loved nursing, and your program opened the door for me to study it, and now I got accepted into a University to earn a degree in that. I start in March. I don’t have anything else to say really. I just want to write and say thank you so much for everything. Everything you’ve given me will be carried in my heart always. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Miriam Diaier

Student: Margarita Saldaña Pino

My name is Margarita Saldaña Pino. I studied bartending, dining services, event planning at FEDES’ Vocational Training School. When I graduated I began my own business in event planning and catering.

    The courses were great! Very good! FEDES gave me invaluable tools for my future. I was a professional hairdresser for over 25 years. Due to an unfortunate turn of events, I lost everything and went through a very rough time. I asked for help at the Municipality and they directed me to take a course at FEDES. I didn’t know anything about holding events or bartending or dining services. Everything I learned, I learned at the Vocational Training School. It was wonderful! Lunch and the transport to the school and back were provided, along with the materials, food and drink that we learned with, which was a Godsend since I was out of a job. (Normally training programs here require students to bring all their own materials, which for the poor can be out of their budget range.) And at the end of the course I was provided with seed capital to start my business. With the funds I was granted I purchased dishware, tablecloths, tables, etc. Little by little, as I got more and more jobs, I was able to purchase more equipment. Presently I have enough equipment to hold a dinner party for 200 people. I organize all kinds of events, baptisms, wedding parties, etc.

    I have also registered for a project in which I am now teaching the trade to 60 students at the Municipality of Lo Espejo. I also teach it at a drug rehabilitation centre. Teaching what you have taught me has been like a magic wand for me. It has opened up a whole new world of possibilities.
    Something that has meant a lot to me is that for the first time in my life I bought prescription eyeglasses. I am very short-sighted but I could never afford to get the glasses I needed. Now, with the money I earned from my business, for the first time in my life I can see everything clearly.
    When I first started to take the course, it caused a bit of an uproar in my family. My husband had lost his job and was battling depression, and most of my family didn’t understand why I would go study and get training instead of looking frantically for another job. Now though, my business is a family affair. My four children and three other people work for me, especially when there is a big event. My husband also lends a hand when necessary.
    These courses really helped me to grow. I grew as a woman, as a wife and now as a small entrepreneur. That used to be my dream, and that dream has come true thanks to you. I will never be able to thank you enough.

 Student: Jonathan Jaque

My name is Jonathan Jaque. I was among the first graduates of the  FEDES Foundation Vocational Training School in 2002. It’s been three years since then and I am presently working in a cyber cafe. I am able to do this job thanks to the course I took in computer assembly and maintenance. I work as an external technician for various companies, BCI Bank, real estate agencies, lawyers and private individuals. I am currently undertaking further studies in computer science, which I like very much, and I’ve been developing many projects in that field. Though I’ve done a lot of things since I graduated, I’ve always taken into account the values I was taught at FEDES, such as team-working and believing in others. I am most thankful for the trust that was shown me there and I’ll always feel a part of the FEDES family. I will never forget them. If anybody ever reads this and is motivated by it... If people my age read this, I wish to tell them that graduating from FEDES is worth it! It is well worth it! You get an excellent education there. I wish to express my most heartfelt thanks for what you did for me and also for what you are doing for those who come to you for help. As I once said, our situation can be turned around, but only we can do it. It depends only on us.

Janet Petit Bremel

 I own a little cyber cafe and I’m part of the enterpreneuring program of the Municipality of Santiago. We attend phone calls, digitalize things, record CDs and provide technical assistance.

 I work with Jonathan, whom I’ve know for the last two and a half years. I’ve had this small business for the last 6 years and he has been the best technician I’ve had. Jonathan is willing to do just about anything. That speaks very highly of him. He is capable of handling the public and he’s honest. He is the best computer maintenance man I’ve had and he also services other companies. He is the kind of person who will do anything within his power to try to figure out something he doesn’t have knowledge about. I wish to say that young people in Chile are intelligent and they have a burden to do many things, but unfortunately, there aren’t enough resources. If people like you can provide them the opportunity for all that energy to be harnessed for achieving something positive that will help our country to make progress, they will. I can attest to that. Please train more Jonathans.

 Student: Jaime Enrique Hernandez Campos

 Jaime Enrique Hernandez Campos is a gastronomy student from last year’s Bicentennial Youth Program. He stopped by the vocational school this month and talked with one of the classes, telling them about how his studies help him now, and how important it is to be consistent in their attendance and take advantage of the opportunity they’re given. He and his mother started a small business delivering lunches to the staff of schools near their home, and he helps Chef Patricia Turen with catering events.

 “The most important skill I learned in my time in FEDES was how to work with people. If you don’t know how to work with people, you can’t get ahead. I really saw how true this was when I was working in restaurants and large hotels. In FEDES I perfected my techniques in cooking skills a lot, but for me, the most valuable thing I took away was the communication and team working skills. “

Student: Sara Moraga

I took a course in dressmaking at the FEDES Vocational Training School and I really learned a lot. The team of teachers is excellent. I deeply appreciated how patient they are with older people like me, as I’m a slow learner. My teacher, Mrs. Gladys, invested a lot of time and patience in me, and that helped me to make it.

    I graduated in 2003. Before I’d sew a bit but not professionally. The course I took at FEDES taught me a lot because it was an intensive course in which we learned not just the theory but we also got hands-on training, and that enabled me to start working right away. Since I started out, I’ve purchased two industrial sewing machines and one smaller one. My dream is to acquire an embroidering machine, which is very costly. But I know that sooner or later I’ll be able to purchase it.
    I am currently making uniforms for several schools and a bus line, and I also make clothes by special request.
    My life has changed in many ways. For example, before I couldn’t afford more than two liters of milk a week. Now I buy my boys 6 or 7 liters a week. We are all eating better and my husband and I are rebuilding our little house, which was made of wood. We are currently only missing about 700 bricks to finish it. That is how much progress I’ve made since I took the course at FEDES.
    Socially and financially, FEDES provides you with extensive job opportunities. In time, you realize how important everything is that they teach you, especially with regard to social skills, management, accounting, organization, and documentation – all of which that I learned there. If I had the opportunity to acquire further training, I would do it again at FEDES. I would tell anybody without a second thought: “Go to FEDES!”

Student: Nora Mendez Carreon

Nora Mendez Carreon, 44, had to leave behind her studies in her teen years to care for her terminally ill father and aunt. In her low income family everyone had to contribute and she worked hard to help pay the bills. Eventually she began a family of her own and continued to care for her sister who suffers from schizophrenia.  A born caregiver, she’d wanted to further her studies and be able to serve the community but  supporting her family financially and giving them the care they needed left her without the time or resources her own education would require.
 Then tragedy struck.  She lost all three children in an accident and, as if that weren’t enough, a year later her job as a telephone operator as well. With the economic downturn the job market in Chile is highly competitive, and at 40 years old job opportunities are extremely hard to come by. She just didn’t know if life had anything left for her.
Incredibly however, instead of allowing that tragedy and obstacles she faced to hold her back, she decided that she’d start again. She sold clothing, candy, or bread in the streets while she studied, first a foot health course with the municipality and then applied for the FEDES elderly care course, anything to achieve her dream of starting a social project of care for one of the most neglected social groups in Chile-the elderly in low income communities. Her project was recently approved by the government and she and a partner will begin services soon after graduation. She is also applying to attend university a few days a week in the near future.
She says, “This course has been exactly the step up I needed to regain faith in myself.  The difference between FEDES and the other courses or vocational programs I’ve attended, was that in the other courses if I showed up or not people didn’t really seem to care. Here the administration really gets involved with the students, holding them to a high standard. I could see they really cared about me, and put importance on me becoming professional in my skills”.