Proyecto Nahual

Project Location

Country: 
Argentina
City: 
Buenos Aires

Organization

Organization Name: 
Proyecto Nahual
Organization Type: 
Other
Specify: 
We do not pay nor receive any money

Website

www.nahual.com.ar

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Consenso al trattamento dei dati personali
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I do authorize the FMD to the use of my personal data.

Project Type

Helping youth step in the job market

Project Description

Description Frase (max. 500 characters): 

Through training in software testing, we help young people from excluded neighbourhoods to reach an employment in the software industry that improves their life quality and stimulates them to develop a profession

Project Summary (max. 2000 characters): 

Nahual is an open community integrated mostly by software professionals and those former students that after the course started working, studing in a university and now keep participating as referents or even sometimes are at front of the class. Our main objective is social inclusion, and we do it by sharing the experience and knowledge but also the relationships and oportunities that we developed on our professional life.
It is a project where where no one pays and no one is paid, that started as social work in 2004 and became a course like now in 2009. We present the project to software companies so they give to the studentes the oportunity of an interview, and stay beside them through the work search process and later, during their firsts experiences. Up to now, there are more of 20 former students that got a job as software testers, many of which also started studing in the university.
On 2013 Nahual was awarded with the Sadosky price for Digital Inclusion and also the Golden Sadosky. http://www.cessi.org.ar/sadosky/ganadores-2013.
Nahual has also been reproduced in other four other nodes (Bariloche, La Plata, San Telmo, La Paternal), and there is people in Uruguay and Colombia working to re-create the experience. On the other nodes there might be different activities, such as programming for kids or hardware reparation. What they all have in common is the objective of share and include from what we know, that is the software technology

How long has your project been running?

2009-02-27 23:00:00

Objectives and Innovative Aspects

Through training in software testing, we help young people from excluded neighbourhoods to reach an employment in the software industry that improves their life quality and stimulates them to develop a profession. Classes are given on saturday morning during four months, with focus on the practice of both technical and cultural preparation for a working environment.
There are also meetings to help participants to create their resume and be prepared for working interviews

Results

Describe the results achieved by your project How do you measure (parameters) these. (max. 2000 characters): 
More than 20 (and counting) young people from excluded neighbourhoods that got a job as software testers, many of which also started studing in the university.
How many users interact with your project monthly and what are the preferred forms of interaction? (max. 500 characters): 

There are around 30 participants on the software testing classes, all of them presential. Later, during the week, we use facebook to talk about the exercises and communicate any news

Sustainability

What is the full duration of your project (from beginning to end)?: 
Less than 1 year
What is the approximate total budget for your project (in Euro)?: 
Less than 10.000 Euro
What is the source of funding for your project?: 
Other
Is your project economically self sufficient now?: 
Yes
Since when?: 
2009-02-27 23:00:00

Transferability

Has your project been replicated/adapted elsewhere?: 
Yes
Where? By whom?: 
With different activities and levels of maturity, Nahual has nodes in Bariloche (Argentina) on the school Amuyen, La Plata (Argentina) on an orphanage called Pantalón Cortito, La Paternal (Argentina) on a communitary center, San Telmo (Argentina) and there is Darío Silva working to develop it in Uruguay
What lessons can others learn from your project? (max. 1500 characters): 

There is an opportunity to use information technologies for inclusion
People make achievements when they receive love and attention
There is people in the world of software that do things for the others without expecting an economic reward

Are you available to help others to start or work on similar projects?: 
Yes

Background Information

Barriers and Solutions (max. 1000 characters): 
There are many, but to be brief i can name - Adapt the curricula to the context of the participants to make it practical and attractive - Develop confidence relations with the potential employers of the students - Provide tools to face an interview and stay beside the students after they complete the course
Future plans and wish list (max. 750 characters): 
We would love to keep spreading the spirit of the project
software testing social inclusion