From Surviving to Thriving: a Story of Success from Colombia

By Justin Sims, Director of Thriving Skills

April 28,2022

Flint Global’s Thriving Skills Program launched just one short year ago in April 2021. Today, we have ongoing programs in 6 locations across 4 countries: Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras. Our recently launched Honduras program is with another Tennessee-based organization, Jóvenes en Camino.

Only one year after the Thriving Skills launch, the program is expanding rapidly to impact more young adults. In the inaugural year of 2021, 44 young people went through the Thriving Skills curriculum. Today, we have 130 Thriving Skills participants, and we anticipate more than 200 young people participating in the program by the end of the year!

Monica Gonzalez

Monica Gonzalez is one of Flint’s local program coordinators for Colombia. Part of her role is developing long-term relationships with Thriving Skills graduates. Her long-term investment in the lives of our participants is part of what makes the Thriving Skills program so successful. Monica, along with Carolina Patiño, brought Gustavo’s story to our attention and also helped coach him through the interview process.

The Thriving Skills program’s impact on the lives of orphaned and at-risk teens and young adults cannot be overstated. Instead of telling you the statistics for success, we’d like to tell you a story. This story comes from our Thriving Skills program at Fundamor in Cali, Colombia. It is about one of last year’s program graduates, and it illustrates the power of connections and skills training offered by our program.

Gustavo, who requested we not use his real name, is a young man who grew up in an orphan home in Colombia. As a child, he was diagnosed with HIV, a health condition he must carefully manage for the rest of his life. After aging out of the protection system, Gustavo struggled to find stable employment. One significant obstacle, given his background, is Gustavo’s lack of social networks and professional mentors to guide him through job searching and the interview process.

But that all changed when Gustavo enrolled in Thriving Skills. Through the program and Fundamor’s and Flint Global’s guidance, Gustavo gained a new network of mentors to connect him with opportunities and to support his career goals. Recently, a local business invited the Thriving Skills graduate to interview for a paid, full-time internship.

Nervous about the upcoming interview, Gustavo reached out to Flint’s Thriving Skills Coordinator, Carolina Patiño, and Fundamor’s local Program Coordinator, Monica Gonzalez, to ask for interview assistance and a resume review. Carolina and Monica worked with Gustavo to prepare him for the interview and to boost his confidence.

During the interview, Gustavo was asked to elaborate on what graduating from Flint’s “Thriving Skills” program meant. He explained that Thriving Skills is a program that offered him job skills training, a paid internship with a local non-profit, and a mentor to develop his professional goals.

After the interview, Gustavo expressed to Carolina and Monica that he felt more confident in his interview skills and job qualifications because of Thriving Skills. Gustavo’s new connections, skills, and mentors equipped him to thrive. The best part, Gustavo got the job!