The Story of Dani, Who Became a Tailor in Mexico

In January, the Secretary-General met Dani during a visit to Casa Alianza Mexico (CAM). Dani is a former street child who spent four years at Casa Alianza (from age 14 to 18). He struggled with severe addiction issues, and his journey was marked by relapses, but he fought to make his dreams come true: today, he is a tailor and has been running his own shop for a year. His story is very moving because he, in turn, is reaching out to other young people from the streets like himself—for example, by hiring Kilian, a young man from Casa Alianza who is still in training. The next step is to open a new workshop because his business is doing so well!
Dani took Margot’s measurements to make her a jacket!

The result is remarkable, and Margot is proud to wear her jacket! She says, “This is the tangible result of our work in Switzerland. I’m literally wearing the fruits of my labor. It was so moving to meet Dani and see how far he’s come to turn his life around. It warms my heart to meet young people whose lives have been transformed thanks to Casa Alianza.”
   

During a mission in February, Margot, the association’s Secretary General, visited young people at their workplace.

Juan (on the left) used to live in a slum and learned about Casa Alianza Nicaragua through community outreach work in his neighborhood (a project on gender-based violence in collaboration with the City of Geneva). He asked to join the center on his own initiative, where he stayed for a little over a year to get his life back on track and complete a training program. 
Matute (right) was living on the streets and learned about Casa Alianza through the prevention work carried out daily by the street outreach team in high-risk areas of Managua. One day, he decided to follow the educators to the center, where he stayed for four years, until he turned 18.

Both teenagers struggled with serious addiction issues, and the road to recovery was difficult. Today, they have their own studio apartment, a motorcycle, and a steady job as a mechanic at a garage.

It was with deep appreciation and gratitude that they shared their story with Margot. 

When asked, “What was your worst memory at Casa Alianza?”, Matute replied, after a minute’s thought, that he didn’t have one. And when asked, “What was your best memory?”, he replied, “The 2014 Street Children’s World Cup in Brazil!!  We went with Casa Alianza—it was the first time I’d ever traveled—and we met kids from all over the world! We lost, but that’s okay; it was incredible. It helped me regain my self-confidence and gave me the strength to keep moving forward.”

This experience undoubtedly helped him in his rehabilitation process, and he still talks about it with stars in his eyes. His dream now is to enroll in college next fall to study engineering for five years. His boss has agreed to let him take one day off per week so he can study starting in September.

Remember the fundraising appeal launched in 2017 to repair the roofs at Casa Alianza Nicaragua: Work on the roof had revealed that it was infested with termites, so an emergency fundraising campaign had to be launched to completely replace it because it was in danger of collapsing. 

Thanks to a Swiss foundation and your many donations, Casa Alianza Nicaragua was able to carry out the roof repairs.
  CAN took advantage of the temporary evacuation of the house to carry out other essential repairs as well: replacing missing windows, installing a new water tank with a powerful pump to provide running water throughout the house, replacing the outdated plumbing, and refinishing the floors and repainting the walls. 

After six months of work, the result is breathtaking, and the living conditions are now optimal for the teenage mothers and their babies. 

Thank you so much for your invaluable support!