At an award ceremony November 3, the Vocational Skills Training Committee of Butterflies en Mexico (BeM)/Mariposa Project, A.C., headed by Mac Whyte, President of BeM, presented Laura Ochoa Hernandez of Tepeque with a diploma for the completion of her Front-of-Restaurant/English apprenticeship at La Mision Restaurant.
Hernandez also received a letter of recommendation on Front-of-Restaurant Skills and was offered a part-time position at La Mision for her excellent performance.
Hernandez became the first graduate of a 96-hour Front-of-Restaurant apprenticeship at La Mision plus an additional 32 hours of private English classes, all focused on the needs of restaurant patrons.
BeM, whose motto is “Encouraging Youth to Make Healthy Life Changes”, came together in March 2014 with the desire to help local youth obtain vocational skills, which would assist them in earning a living wage for themselves and their families. Their first task was to determine what jobs at lakeside could provide a living wage and what positions local businesses needed to fill.
A BeM committee held informal discussions with expats living at lakeside to find out what they felt was needed. The needs mentioned most frequently were 1) more English-speaking front-of-restaurant workers and 2) caregivers for the ill and elderly. The committee then conducted a formal survey amongst business owners and concluded that English speakers were needed, as well as workers who had some prior experience.
In May 2015, the committee trained nine students from the Tlachichilco Luz de Malla project to conduct a survey in major Lakeside villages to understand what kinds of jobs attracted 13 to 25 year olds and whether or not they would be interested in training programs. The survey summary is posted on the website under Vocational Skills: www.gomariposa.org.
Based on the results, the committee decided to launch a pilot training program for the restaurant business and in September 2016, their first apprenticeship began.
BeM is seeking sponsorship funds of 4,536 pesos (about US$239) to place a second restaurant apprentice. La Mision and a few other local restaurants have generously volunteered their time to provide the in-restaurant training, so the majority of the funding required is to pay an English instructor who can quickly and flexibly teach the words and phrases needed to be successful in front-of-restaurant work.
Anyone who wishes to support BeM and encourage local youth to make healthy life changes, learn more about the BeM programs, or can recommend possible future training candidates, please contact Bernadine Janzen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..