Vocational Training
Education that prepares youth and individuals for a specific trade that can be used to improve economic status.
The Challenge
Individuals from low-income communities more often than not suffer from poor education and few vocational training opportunities. The lack of relevant job skills may perpetuate a cycle of poverty. High poverty rates, low education levels, domestic violence within families, aggressive environments, and drugs are just some of the factors that may limit the opportunities for a successful life. By providing access to vocational education, individuals may develop a trade and specific skills allowing them to become highly competitive in the workforce.
Many people in developing country do not have the financial resources or time to attend a traditional education institute and/or pursue a college career. Such limitations place poor communities and individuals at disadvantage when pursuing job opportunities and limits them to the lowest scale of the income earning scale.
The Opportunity
Creating a new vocational training program for individuals living in poverty will empower them by lifting their self-esteem and economic value in the job market. The newly acquired trade can transform low-income communities and its local residents by providing new employment opportunities and safer environments in the community. This program will help establish civic values, analytical skills, knowledge and good working habits. Vocational training may also provide individuals with the right tools to rebuild their lives and the opportunities to raise the economic status of their families.
BLOG SMILE
Vital medical outreach focusing on basic hygiene and quality health care needs– including dental care, medical check-ups, medical supplies, visual care, etc.
An update from our founders!
Hi we’re Edwin Amaya and Erika Perdomo, founders of Smile Education Foundation! We’re so happy to still be working with SEF after all these years, and we definitely want to thank all of the donors and volunteers that have been with us throughout this exciting...
Summer Interns in Colombia
Hola! We’re Julia and Carey, students from the University of Oklahoma who’ve come Colombia to volunteer with SEF. A little bit about us- Julia: A junior studying Economics and International Security Studies from Houston, Texas. Half-Colombian, Half-American, and I’m...
Who are we and what do we do?
Smile Colombia Foundation was founded in August 2009 by Edwin Amaya in Oklahoma. Edwin’s inspiration is based in his own family’s story. Knowing and understanding the struggles his grandmother endured raising his mother and seven other children as a single mother in...