Program for young people – It helps young immigrants to find happiness in an apprenticeship – News

Thanks to a mentor from Caritas Zurich, Yusmila Machado found an apprenticeship. Today she helps young people herself.

Which job fits me? How do I find an apprenticeship? How do I write an application? These questions are a great challenge for young people – and for some even an insurmountable hurdle. Finding an apprenticeship position can be very difficult, especially for young people who have not lived in Switzerland for long. “Incluso”, a program run by Zurich Caritas, can help them. Volunteer mentors have been supporting young people on their way into the world of work for twenty years.

One of the volunteers is 33-year-old Yusmila Machado. Thanks to a mentor, she found an apprenticeship herself. The Cuban came to Switzerland with her mother when she was seventeen. “I was at a difficult age at the time,” says Machado in retrospect.

There was a lot going on in this phase of life. Finding your bearings in a foreign country at the same time was no easy task for Machado: “I didn’t speak the language. And in Switzerland, many things worked completely differently than in Cuba.”

“Now it’s time for me to help”

Yusmila Machado received support from her mentor. The teenager was able to contact her with any questions. “She played a central role in my life,” says Machado. She often wrote to her mentor in emails in German about how she was feeling. “Then she corrected the texts.” At meetings, the two prepared application dossiers and practiced job interviews.

After an intensive search, Machado found a commercial apprenticeship. Today she works in marketing and accompanies a 17-year-old Spanish woman as a mentor. “I used to get help. Now it’s time for me to help others,” she says.

Between apprehension and delirium of joy

However, this change of role brings with it hurdles: The mentor experienced how her protégé received rejection after rejection. “These are difficult moments when you have doubts about success,” says Machado. Nevertheless, you have to show yourself strong and encouraging.

A sense of achievement is all the better. Four months ago, the young Spaniard received a commitment. She was able to start an apprenticeship as a chemical laboratory assistant. “She literally screamed into the phone with excitement and could hardly speak,” says Machado. “We were both very happy.”

Crashes are rare

Over a period of twenty years, volunteers like Yasmina Machado have accompanied 1,600 young people. “Most have found a satisfactory connection solution,” says Andreas Reinhart, media spokesman for Caritas Zurich. Be it an apprenticeship or, for example, a tenth school year.

There have also been terminations in the mentoring program: “Fortunately, there were isolated cases,” says Reinhart. The Caritas employees checked carefully whether a duo could work. “If it doesn’t fit, we’ll see if someone else can be mediated.”

Legend:

“We don’t get the young people apprenticeships, we empower them on the way there,” says Caritas media spokesman Andreas Reinhart.

SRF/Nina Thöny

However, finding enough volunteers is difficult. “We’re looking for a lot of people at the moment,” admits Reinhart. It is similar with aid organizations such as the Red Cross. “Perhaps people don’t want to commit as much at the moment,” suspects the Caritas media spokesman. Or they may have been heavily involved during the pandemic and now wish they had some time to themselves.

Yusmila Machado is also taking a break at the moment: she is going away for a few months. After that she would like to work as a mentor again. And in this role, pass on their gratitude.