United States Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney walked into the rural school gymnasium in the village of Tinagacan, Mindanao, and cheering broke out from school children, parents and a group of proud youth graduates. It was the first time such an honorable guest was visiting the village that had once been ravaged by conflict.

For the citizens of Tinagacan, February 8, 2008, was a day of graduation and celebration. A group of 39 out-of-school youth had successfully completed and graduated from the KAPATID program: a community-based training program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and managed by International Youth Foundation through the Education & Employment Alliance (EEA) program. The KAPATID program is training 150 rehabilitated juvenile offenders and other at-risk Filipino youth to become productive and self-sufficient citizens in three conflict-affected communities in General Santos City. Participants receive training in basic welding, small engine and automotive repair, math, reading, and life skills.

The program is locally managed by the Marcellin Foundation and a community-based alliance (CBA) that was organized by members from the local government, business sector and civil society. Members are committed to working together and sharing resources to find solutions to education and employment challenges in the community. In her graduation speech, Ambassador Kenney said the EEA program had formed a valuable partnership between the Marcellin Foundation and the U.S. energy firm Chevron. “This partnership affirms USAID’s strategy of encouraging alliances between government, non-government organizations and business,” said Kenney. The Ambassador went on to congratulate the graduating youth for seizing the opportunity to be productive workers.

Members of the CBA echoed Ambassador Kenney’s remarks. Mark Quebral, Chevron’s Manager for Public Affairs, asked the youth to continue to strive and work hard. Chevron is a key partner in the alliance, having contributed $56,000 in funding. Brother Cris Bettita, Executive Director of the Marcellin Foundation, said the new welders were part of more than 300 youth that are receiving employability training. A representative from the government-funded Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) said, “We will continue to support programs like this that help youth become productive members of their communities.”

Seventeen-year old Robert Paul Enumerables spoke on behalf of the graduating youth. Orphaned by the conflict, Enumerables said, “When Marcellin offered me this opportunity, I did my best and concentrated on my studies. I learned welding skills by heart. My values and perspective on life also changed. I learned to manage my time, improve my spiritual life and communicate with others.” Enumerables recalled how many villagers would ridicule him and the other participants for attending the training, saying that the course would not translate into jobs. Seeing the results however, a large group of applicants gathered in long lines to register for the second training.

Abdul Danial, a 19-year old graduate who has been working for eight months as an assistant mechanic, talked about being part of the solution rather than the problem. “The skills training course taught me to value and respect my parents, relate to others and appreciate team work. The benefits from this program are not a small thing; they are a life time souvenir. Now I am no longer a problem for my family, instead I am part of the solution to our problem.”

The mothers listened with tears in their eyes as they remembered how their sons, once out of school, listless and undisciplined, now woke up and rushed off to the training course. Linda Rudy, 52, a tenant farmer and mother of 12 children, said she encouraged her son to see the training as equal in value to owning land. She said her son wept when he was accepted as a welder in the local shipyard. “All we have known is poverty,” the tenant farmer lamented. “My son now serves as a model for my other children who dream of a path forward.”

The Education & Employment Alliance (EEA), implemented by the International Youth Foundation (IYF), works in six countries with high youth unemployment rates – Egypt, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan and the Philippines. Its alliances develop and expand quality education and job training programs. Seed funding is provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development. In the Philippines, EEA seeks to train and secure employment for more than 2,700 out-of-school youth in Mindanao.