By Khandle Hedrick, DreamBuilder Fellow
Revealed last year at the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative, DreamBuilder is truly living up to all it was designed to be. The online business skills training program for women is the first of its kind in the small mining community of Calama, Chile. The pilot program was officially launched in Calama this September, the same weekend it was showcased on stage at the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative.
The program in Calama is being initiated by 24 dynamic women from varying educational and cultural backgrounds who were hand picked from Chile’s national Prodemu Foundation and Calama’s Centro de Apoyo Integral a la Mujer. The women are excited, nervous, and honored to be part of the launch of the program. For some, it is their first time ever using a computer, but they all support and encourage each other as they learn to apply new skills both in and out of the classroom.
DreamBuilder was featured this week on Calama’s Radio Digital 89.5. It was highlighted as a program that not only teaches business skills, but also helps women find the confidence to leave violent or abusive home situations through entrepreneurship and financial independence. The number of women on Calama’s waiting list ready to enroll has already passed 200, and the list grows daily as word of the program spreads.
Carmen Araya, a 66-year old breast cancer survivor, and sole caretaker of her 2 young grandchildren, dreams of soon running her own bakery. With only a 5th grade education, she is one of the 24 initial candidates currently enrolled in the DreamBuilder program. “I never thought I would be in a course like this,” Araya says, “I’m learning that I really can accomplish anything, that I can follow my dreams without fear.”
