Our mission at Hogares Club Michin is to empower young women and men by providing vocational training in the art of machine knitting. Some teens living at Hogares Club Michin in Bogota have chosen to learn this skill and are having a good time learning! In exchange for spending their mornings or afternoons learning how to knit, they receive compensation while learning. Bank accounts have been set up for them, and earnings banked for when they age out of Hogares.
Friends of Colombian Orphans is committed to helping these young entrepreneurs by supporting Hogares Club Michin in growing a cooperative where knitters can continue to use their new found skills. Friends of Colombian Orphans provides Hogares Club Michin with knitting machines, yarn and a knitting teacher.
Lack of skills is often thought to be one of the key determinants of youth unemployment. However, there is little reliable evidence on the impact of training on improving the labor market standing of the poor. The following study ( linked) examines the causal impact of vocational training in a developing country context.
This study reinforces that what we are doing is making an impact.
