Fall brings familiar rhythms—new backpacks, heavy textbooks and the mix of excitement and nerves that comes with a new school year. For parents across Canada, it’s a season of routines, after-school activities and hope for how their children will learn and grow. 

But for far too many young people around the world, the path forward after school often sees their futures come to a halt. Without money for college or access to vocational training, they face years of uncertainty—working odd jobs that barely sustain them and wondering if their dreams will ever take root. 

In the face of these challenges, a movement of compassion is planting seeds of transformation. Through Compassion’s work with local churches, youth are discovering their God-given talents and gaining practical skills—as electricians, plumbers, pastry chefs and more. These are more than just careers; they’re pathways out of poverty, opportunities to provide for families and dreams fulfilled. God is using skills training to write stories of hope for young people around the world. 

Sweet success for Daniela 

Daniela and her mother Paty inside their pastry kitchen. They are cooking together, preparing the dough for a cake.

Daniela and her mother work together to fulfill cake orders, making sweet treats for her community to enjoy.

Daniela’s journey with Compassion began before she took her first breath—when her mother was pregnant, she was registered in the Survival program at their local Compassion centre in East El Salvador. Growing up in poverty could have meant a lack of opportunities but the staff at Daniela’s centre saw something special in her: baking skills coupled with an entrepreneurial spirit. 

“At the centre, I was encouraged to have professional dreams,” says Daniela. “I remember myself as a little girl when they asked us to make drawings of ourselves as professionals. I always drew a woman with an ID card and told my tutors, ‘I don’t want to be an employee; I want to be my own boss!’” 

Daniela posing in front of many cakes baked and decorated by her. She is holding a box with a cake to be delivered. She is smiling.

Daniela is living her dream of being her own boss and her cakes are helping her build a thriving future.

Now 14, Daniela is making good on those dreams. Despite the remote location of her village making specialized pastry training difficult to reach, her Compassion centre bridged the gap by paying for transportation and eight training sessions. The investment has paid off beautifully—Daniela now runs her own cake shop after school and fulfills around 40 cake orders each month. The growth of her business has allowed her to set aside money for a delivery car, as well as save for her academic goal of studying gastronomy one day. 

Hope knocks for Yamikani 

Alinafe and Yamikani hold hands while praying. They are sitting outside of his stone house.

Alinafe brought hope into Yamikani’s life by praying for him and helping him see his God-given potential.

At 17, Yamikani’s future looked bleak. Orphaned at three and separated from all his siblings by eight, he survived on odd jobs and errands while paying rent to a distant cousin. “I was just living—no purpose, no vision or dream. Just waiting for the day I would die,” he recalls. 

Then hope knocked. Alinafe, a staff member from his local Compassion centre in Malawi, began paying Yamikani house visits, bringing him food, praying for him and instilling the belief that God cared for him and had gifted him with skills. Through the centre’s Not Educated, Employed or Trained (NEET) Program, Yamikani enrolled at Don Bosco Youth Training Institute, training to be a plumber. While he was away at the institute, his church family surprised him by building a house where he could live when he returned. 

Alinafe and two of his colleagues fix a pipe. They are wearing blue uniforms.

Today, Yamikani is able to earn a living and help his community with his plumbing skills.

Today, everything has changed. “Learning has immensely opened my mind, and I can vividly see a great future before me,” says Yamikani. “I see myself doing something that will be meaningful to people.”  

Through Compassion’s local church partners and vocational training programs, young people like Yamikani can find hope and fulfill their God-given potential. 

Joseph’s dreams are reignited 

Joseph and his family smile just right outside their house. Joseph stands in the middle of his family with his younger sister standing in front of him, his arms cupped around her arms. He is wearing a gray hoodie, and his sister is wearing a gray dress with a butterfly pattern. His mom and older sister are on either side of him, and another younger sister stands in front of his mom. Behind them is a brick building painted red with an arched doorway and arched window behind them.

With his new job skills, Joseph, his mother and his siblings can look forward to a bright future with their needs met.

Without money to pursue a college education, Joseph spent years after secondary school in Zambia watching his dreams slip away. Doing whatever he could not to be idle, Joseph found work at a grocery store—however, it was not enough for him to meet his needs and he felt beat down as his friends pursued their academic goals.  

“It was painful to see my friends going to school while I was at home doing nothing and feeling like a laughingstock,” Joseph says.” 

NEET beneficiaries take time to show off their equipment given to them courtesy of the front-line church and Compassion. They stand by each other with their arms around each other as they look forward to their trade school goals. They are all wearing a school uniform that consists of a blue shirt and blue pants, and they are all holding supplies for their classes. Behind them is a corn field, trees and a small mountain.

Joseph (far right) and other young people like him are able to build crucial vocational skills through NEET programming.

But despair would not win out. When staff from Joseph’s local Compassion centre identified him for the Not in Education, Employment or Training vocational program, his dreams suddenly became a reality again. Now training as an electrician, Joseph is gaining practical skills that are empowering him to break the cycle of poverty for his family.

“When I finish this skill, I know I will be able to sustain my needs and also help my mother and siblings at home,” says Joseph, his voice filled with renewed confidence. 

The transformation happening in Daniela’s pastry shop, in Yamikani’s plumbing training and in Joseph’s electrical studies are just a few glimpses into how God is using skills training to transform lives—and He continues to invite His Church to play a role. Today is the day to plant seeds of hope and lasting change—your generosity can provide vocational training to youth, equipping them with job skills that break cycles of poverty and cultivate futures filled with purpose. 

 

Vocational training today transforms futures. 

Help young people plant the seed of skills training today—and grow hope for tomorrow. 

Give the gift of job skills training

 

John Ayena

John Ayena

John is a Content Specialist at Compassion Canada, where he brings stories of God's love to life with truth and clarity. When he isn't writing, you'll find him out on a run, strumming a guitar or deep into a book while sipping a cup of tea.