Hopelessness and despair devastate people and communities and are the by products of poverty and
underemployment.
When visiting the teenagers that grow up in the squatter communities of Lima, Peru, it is not long until one
can see hopelessness in many of their big, black eyes and hear despair in their dreams of the future.
Peru's government sponsored public education has failed to prepare many of this generation to
adequately compete in the very competitive work place around Lima. Most of these young people enter
their twenties without a sellable skill and most of them find it almost impossible to earn the government
mandated $150.00 per month minimum wage.
Change A Life thinks one solution to this problem is to teach metal fabrication to the teens interested in
this type of work. Almost every home or building around Lima, Peru has burglar bars and or ornamental
iron work covering the windows doors and entry ways. Many are very ornate. The demand for this type of
work is at an all time high and it is not just every person that can weld.
In 2004 Jeff spoke at a church in Montana about the El Burro Project. After the presentation, Colleen Lee,
a mother who had recently lost a teenage son in a motorcycle accident, donated the seed money for the
“Shop in A Box” concept.
The Shop in A Box soon became the Mobile Shop Classroom idea and Change A Life will build and outfit
the “pull behind a pickup trailer Mobile Shop Classroom.”
When the Mobile Shop Classroom is operational, Change A Life personnel will be able to pull the trailer
into a community “set up shop”, teach metal fabrication and welding on the spot. Hopefully, the Mobile
Shop students will become the future contractors to build The Soy milk Machine and El Burro just to
mention a few.
underemployment.
When visiting the teenagers that grow up in the squatter communities of Lima, Peru, it is not long until one
can see hopelessness in many of their big, black eyes and hear despair in their dreams of the future.
Peru's government sponsored public education has failed to prepare many of this generation to
adequately compete in the very competitive work place around Lima. Most of these young people enter
their twenties without a sellable skill and most of them find it almost impossible to earn the government
mandated $150.00 per month minimum wage.
Change A Life thinks one solution to this problem is to teach metal fabrication to the teens interested in
this type of work. Almost every home or building around Lima, Peru has burglar bars and or ornamental
iron work covering the windows doors and entry ways. Many are very ornate. The demand for this type of
work is at an all time high and it is not just every person that can weld.
In 2004 Jeff spoke at a church in Montana about the El Burro Project. After the presentation, Colleen Lee,
a mother who had recently lost a teenage son in a motorcycle accident, donated the seed money for the
“Shop in A Box” concept.
The Shop in A Box soon became the Mobile Shop Classroom idea and Change A Life will build and outfit
the “pull behind a pickup trailer Mobile Shop Classroom.”
When the Mobile Shop Classroom is operational, Change A Life personnel will be able to pull the trailer
into a community “set up shop”, teach metal fabrication and welding on the spot. Hopefully, the Mobile
Shop students will become the future contractors to build The Soy milk Machine and El Burro just to
mention a few.
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Mobile Shop Classroom