One of the many goals of FUNDAP is to create skills for the labour integration of young people and women. They offer education in cooking schools, which allows young people to find work or start up their own business.
To demonstrate the potential of those young people, FUNDAP registered their students for the contests at the “Feria Alimentaria”, an important gastronomic event that took place from the 10th to 12th September in Guatemala.
The schools of FUNDAP participated in various contests and obtained excellent results: The five best schools in Guatemala remained in the category “Panadería Nacional” (National Bakery) whilst José Francisco Colop Sacalxot achieved the award in the international field.
Advanced course students from the Centros Téchnicos in Quetzaltenango and Suchitepéquez participated in the field of gastronomy and enjoyed the experience. They could not place themselves among the top three but they were amidst the ten best groups.
Overall it has been a rewarding experience for both, students and instructors; especially to improve the quality of every task and technical training course.
Mainel sends its congratulations to the participants and we wish them all the best for their future. Also, we would like to motivate FUNDAP to keep up the great work they carry out in the country to fight poverty.
FUNDAP shows us the history of José Francisco
(Winner of the International Bakery Category)
In 2010 a young group of students from the “Instituto de Telesecundaria” in Cantel came together with the “Centro Téchnico” in Quetzaltengano to improve their skills in the technical field; José Francisco Colop Sacalxot was among them.
Francisco worked half time to support his family economically and that motivated him to learn a technical skill that would give him a better chance to earn more money in the future. Often he struggled to purchase the necessary materials to practice; he started to sell his products so he could return the investment and continue learning.
Together with his dad he started to work in the bread production and started to sell the bread in his community; every 2 days they made new bread and sold it without any problems. At the moment they are saving up to buy needed equipment improve their production.
Due to the fact that he has not stopped learning; this year he realized an internship in a company in Quetzaltenango to learn new processes and methods in the bread production in order to be competitive in different markets; this led to the participation in “La Feria Alimentaria 2012”
The days before the competition were very stressful: he was happy and nervous at the same time. In total he presented 6 products: ricotta-asparagus baguette; saffron and fruit bread; sundried tomato ciabatta bread; blackberry-chocolate croissant; sweet corn-chilli bread; doughnuts.
This example shows that young people can achieve their goals and dreams; always depending on the valuable support of their family and the instructors who put dedication into their work on a daily basis.