MAP has been supporting vocational training workshops since 2002. These training courses enable the most vulnerable young people, often in street situations or drug addicts, to envisage a future and a social reintegration. The courses thus serve as a drug prevention device. Courses in metalwork, mechanics, cooking, hairdressing, computers, baking and administration last for 6 months and are completely free. Before the health crisis, enrolment was around 1,200 students per term. As a result of the restrictions and measures put in place, approximately 800 young people are now being trained each quarter, giving each of them the opportunity to write a new chapter in their history.

The project is part of Casa do Menor’s community development and professionalisation programme, and aims to create work opportunities for young people from socially vulnerable communities and the promotion of an entrepreneurial culture in contrast to the violent culture of the Brazilian suburbs. Young people trained in vocational courses often try their hand at independent entrepreneurial initiatives, but without success due to lack of follow-up and funding.

The project therefore comes as a second phase in the process of integrating young people by training them to manage their own individual micro-enterprises, with little investment. This technical training, which supports young people who have already received vocational training, will enable them to start their own business.