During its nearly five decades of life, the Working Boys' Center - A Family of Families has graduated 4,750 technicians in the different specialties all of whom have become agents of change in society. In the city of Quito, more than 6,000 families or 30,000 individuals have left poverty behind. They and their descendents have changed their way of life and their world view thanks to their participation in the WBC and their education in Christian family values. They have learned to be agents of sustainable human development, of their own prosperity and that of the community.
In 2007, the Center commissioned a study of the impact of its work on the Quito community. The results speak for themselves.
- Taking jobs involving additional responsibilities, and consequently, getting higher incomes, obviously have an impact on life quality improvement and self-esteem. Most graduates who previously worked as shoeshine boys, domestic workers or construction laborers are now working as automotive mechanics (26.30%,) sales persons, industrial mechanics, metal workers and in the printing industry (10.50% for each group.)
- Access to social security is one of the keys to ensure stability, work quality improvement, respect for worker's dignity and adequate health care. The fact that 46% of the graduates are affiliated in the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute demonstrates their awareness of workers' rights. Comparing this figure with the national average (9.9%) confirms the value of the education and training provided at the WBC.
- Despite the fact that 46% of WBC members had not completed elementary school at the time of joining the WBC, 85.10% finished elementary school and the career or technical studies they opted for.
- 64.40% of WBC members continued studying after completing their technical training at the WBC. 75% finished their further training and obtained a new diploma.
Hopelessness Left Behind Forever
Piedad Perdomo,
WBC Graduate, 1992
"My mother, my brother and sister and I entered the Center in 1982. My mother worked as a domestic servant and our life was full of privation. The WBC gave us security, protection, education and values. Although there were about 2,000 members, we always felt that we were part of a "family".
I studied sales and marketing and later obtained a loan from the Center to begin my first business, a fast food restaurant. Today I work with my sister who graduated in cosmetology. We run a beauty salon. My brother studied auto-mechanics and my mother learned baking. The Center gave us the opportunity to prosper in life.
My future plan is to create a cosmetology academy of my own."