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Meet some of our trainess who have walked through our kitchen door recently...
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"Yake" and her whole family were overweight. Looking for part-time work opportunities, Yake attended a basic adult course and then started to train professionally with Through The Kitchen Door. Taking her lessons home, Yake has lost more than 40 pounds; the members of her family have lost weight and all are eating healthfully and deliciously. She also is creating a successful career with Through The Kitchen Door. Yake supervises in our catering kitchen; teaches both adult and youth programs; serves as a community spokesperson for Through The Kitchen Door and is poised to be the community representative on the Board of Directors.
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"Pilar" had recently emigrated from Ecuador with her family and was finding it difficult to adapt to a new country. She knew few people and felt frustrated because of language and cultural differences. Her participation in Through The Kitchen Door training enabled her to connect with and form close supportive friendships with other mothers of at-risk kids in the local elementary school. This same group of moms then became the most active members of the school PTSA. Pilar went on to advanced Through The Kitchen Door training and became president of a women's cooperative providing catering and other food services. She also served, until her recent return to Ecuador, on Through The Kitchen Door"s Board of Directors. In Ecuador, Pilar is working to establish Through The Kitchen Door® training programs.
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"Sadie", a single mother raising two children on her own had been having a very hard time. Her health had not allowed her to work full-time and her older daughter was having a hard time and wanted to drop out of school. When Sadie completed the Through The Kitchen Door basic course she changed around her own and her family's eating habits, involving her daughter in the family cooking. The two of them then began to work together, making baked goods to sell at church functions. Sadie's health is improved; her daughter is still in school; and they are earning some extra money for the family and contributing some of their earnings to the church.
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"Alex", attended a Teens Get Cooking™ workshop as he was completing 8th grade. We had been told that Alex acted out a lot in school and that there were serious family problems in his home. No one expected him to complete the three-week program. Not only did Alex attend every day, he actually convinced us to let his sister and his cousin come, too. At the end of the course, Alex asked if he could teach for us when he got to high school. While we encouraged him to wait a year and get adjusted to high school, he was persistent and persuaded us that he would be more successful at high school if he worked with us. Alex is our youngest teacher and his part-time employment is giving him a healthy, productive, supervised after school activity.
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"Tajo" and his ‘brothers’ from Cameroon were regulars at CASA of Maryland’s day laborers’ center, yet the cultural and language differences between the African and Hispanic immigrant communities meant that communication was still a barrier. Tajo and others attended a tri-lingual (English, Spanish, French) Through The Kitchen Door® basic course with others from the center. Their fun, positive, cross-cultural experiences in the kitchen gave them new skills and desire to positively engage their multi-cultural neighborhood and professional lives.
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"Tiffany" was struggling. An eighteen-year-old mother of an infant boy, she was living with her mother and trying to manage her difficult life. She wanted to work, go to college and create a good home for her child but she knew she needed some help and direction. Tiffany came to train with Through The Kitchen Door as a teacher in our after school programs because it would allow her to take college courses and earn some money. We learned that Tiffany was leaving her son in the care of an aunt who was a substance abuser. We helped her find the resources to change that situation for her baby. The nutrition, hygiene and safety training we gave Tiffany, alerted her to dangers in her home and helped change both her and her child's diet. She is now enrolled in college and is a qualified Through The Kitchen Door assistant teacher.
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"Laura", an exquisitely beautiful fifteen year-old, was about 30 pounds overweight and the subject of bullying and ridicule among her peers. Low self-esteem because of her weight was affecting her schoolwork and social life. Teens Get Cooking was exactly what Laura needed. She loved to cook and was thrilled to find out about low-calorie, low-cost, easy to prepare foods that she really enjoyed making and eating. When she got home from our classes, Laura taught her mother (both of her parents were extremely overweight) what she had learned. The Through The Kitchen Door experience has changed her family's eating habits and everyone has been losing weight. Laura is more emotionally equipped and able to handle herself among her peers and she, too, is qualified as an assistant teacher for Through The Kitchen Door after school programs.
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And in Costa Rica where we started... |
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"Amelia" had been a victim of domestic abuse for years. The mother of two young children, she learned about our program from a neighbor. After attending Through The Kitchen Door's basic training class she was determined to improve conditions for herself and her family. She began by ending her relationship with her abusive husband. Then she applied for a long-term, low-interest loan, bought some basic equipment, rented kitchen space and started a small business baking pastries for the cafeteria in a nearby factory.
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"Yolanda" was eighteen years old and had left her village in Nicaragua to seek work and a better life. Young, shy and away from home for the first time, she was hired by a prosperous family as a domestic employee. Her employers cared for her and were very concerned about how timid and retiring she was; how difficult it was for her to make a decision; and how hard it was for her to ask questions. After one week in Through The Kitchen Door's basic course she was a changed young woman. She had confidence in herself and in her abilities. She was willing to ask questions, act on her own, and take responsibility for her actions. In her work, she was pro-active and started taking and trusting her own self-initiative. Her employers were thrilled and gave her a raise. |
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"Florencia" was working in a clothing factory earning minimum wage and working very long hours in a hot, noisy warehouse, while her four young children took care of themselves at home. She wanted to change her circumstances and had heard about Through The Kitchen Door from a friend. After taking the basic course, Florencia realized that she had strong organizational abilities. She was encouraged to enroll in a course in office administration and accounting. Her goal is to provide services from her home to small businesses in her barrio.
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"Ana and Suri", the sisters Torres, came to work for Through The Kitchen Door's catering predecessor, Ritmos Culinarios, a food service business, where they were trained. They arrived as they each turned eighteen years old, never having worked before and with few professional skills. Working with Through The Kitchen Door developed maturity in both young women and brought out their desires to work hard, learn and take advantage of every opportunity possible. Ana became the executive administrator for the project; Suri a supervising trainer. Their older sister, Suzi, also became a Through The Kitchen Door teacher. When Suri married a few years ago, she was asked if her immediate plans included children. She responded, "No, I listened to what I was being taught and what I was teaching others. We are waiting for a few years until we have our house built and some savings in the bank."
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