Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
– Chinese Proverb
A young woman is pregnant, poor, and struggling. The father of her unborn child is dead.
She gives birth to a healthy baby girl who she names Yineth and gives her to her mother in Turbo to raise. The grandmother cares for little Yineth every day while the young woman lives in Medellin, more than two hundred miles away. Two years later, the grandmother also takes on responsibility for Yineth’s little brother while the mother sells candies, coffee, and various items in a faraway city to make a meager living.
For twelve years, the young woman struggles. She decides to move her children out of Turbo and into the city of Medellin, where she rents a tiny room in the tenements.
The power of nonprofits like Casa de Sueños
What’s a mother to do?
Yineth is twelve. Her brother is ten. Their mother must go out every day to sell her wares so that she can pay that night’s rent. The children are left alone all that time, locked in the room by themselves.
Happily, the children were embraced by the Funvini Institute, (a shortened version of” “Fundacion Vivan Los Ninos,”) a Catholic organization that helps the poor, underserved children of Medellin. The goal of the Funvini Institute is to protect children from violence and give them education and love.
It was at the Funvini Institute that young Yineth developed a passion for learning.
Her passion was strong even when her mother spiraled into a deep depression due to the financial hardships. Yineth had to take on an adult role, caring for her brother and supporting her mother with companionship.
It took a year for her mother to recover.
“And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”
– Romans 5:4
Yineth’s story of strength, resilience, and hope
After a year, Yineth’s mother secured jobs in various trades, and the family moved to the Robledo neighborhood.
Just when Yineth thought things would get better, the family suffered a major setback.
Yineth’s little brother developed a severe impulse control disorder. He attacked his sister with a knife and was placed in protective care.
Now a young teenager, Yineth is shaken, but she is also strong and resilient. She loves learning and wants to build a future for herself. That’s why she came to Casa de Sueños, Medellin’s premier nonprofit for poor children and abused young women.
At Casa de Sueños, Yineth could devote herself to her education through the support, therapy, and curriculum offered to her. Because of Casa de Sueños, Yineth graduated from high school and enrolled in a Graphic Design Technique program. All the time, she worked to rebuild her fragile relationship with her mother.
Casa de Sueños: teaching girls to “fish”
An old Chinese proverb observes that you can give a man a fish and feed him for a day. But if you teach him how to fish, he can feed himself for a lifetime.
Casa de Sueños understands the need to educate, support, and nurture young women. That’s why its founder, Lorena Vasquez, developed “Helping Hand,” an award-winning program to accommodate their needs. Yineth is one of the hundreds of young women helped by the program over the last decade.
In fact, Yineth learned to “fish” at Casa de Sueños!
If “fishing” means learning a skill that can provide for you in the future as the Chinese proverb implies, that’s exactly what Yineth did. She learned the skill of macrame at Casa de Sueños, along with some basic business and financial principles.
If you’re wondering what the big deal about learning macrame is, you need to understand this.
Once Yineth learned the art of macrame through classes offered at Casa de Sueños, she used it to provide for herself. Always interested in fashion, she began creating beautiful garments to sell, even creating macrame swimsuits! With the help of Casa de Sueños, Yineth found buyers for her stunning, unique macrame creations.
The sales of her goods enabled her to pay for her education in Graphic Design.
Now, she is finishing her degree. She has a job, a skill, a faith, and a future because of the work of Casa de Sueños.
If you, too, believe in teaching girls to “fish” so they can provide for themselves…
Donate here.
We need you.
They need you.
“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.”
– Proverbs 31:25
