Connecting Futures on the border

Students work on their life skills during the in-school portion of the Transitions program, held at the Children's Development Centre.
Youth Connect trainer Win Naing came to Thailand as a teenager and now gives hope for better futures to more young people like himself.
Students work on their life skills during the in-school portion of the Transitions program, held at the Children's Development Centre.
Trainer Up (right) created a new restaurant-training program for Transitions interns in 2012. All interns practiced their cooking, taking orders, and serving. As most of them were still taking basic English and not all of them learned Thai properly in migrant school, the experiment went over better with Burmese "customers."
Employment manager Pann (left) advises an intern in the restaurant-training program. As the trainers in charge of this portion of the program are Thai, the interns focused on learning about Thai food rather than Burmese.
In the pre-apprenticeship program, interns are sent one day per week to one of Youth Connect's social enterprises to learn basic job skills, such as punctuality, responsibility, respect, and focus. Students sent to the Puzzlebox Art Studio were not required to have any interest in art, but simply needed to follow directions to help the staff artists with production.
Puzzlebox artist Pyae Phu Cho (left) teaches a pre-apprentice how to roll paper beads. Puzzlebox Art Studio is one of the social enterprises created by Youth Connect, providing training for creative careers to talented young Burmese migrants.
A pre-apprentice slices excess coating off the paper beads made by Puzzlebox Art Studio. Puzzlebox Art Studio is one of the social enterprises created by Youth Connect, providing training for creative careers to talented young Burmese migrants.
Junior trainer No No, herself only a couple years older than most Transitions students, leads a class at Knowledge Zone in interview skills and resume-writing.
Students work in small groups to discuss job interview techniques during the in-school portion of the Transitions program at Knowledge Zone.
Students observe each other during mock job interviews.
Students work on their life skills during the in-school portion of the Transitions program at Knowledge Zone.
Thai language trainer Give (in back) leads a group of Transitions interns through a project.
Lead trainer Nisha Toomey explains the online booking system to new assistant manger Phan at Picturebook Guesthouse. Picturebook Guesthouse is one of the social enterprises created by Youth Connect, providing a stable job and on-going hospitality training.

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September - October 2012
Location: Mae Sot, Thailand

The Thailand-Myanmar border hosts a huge population of young Burmese migrants, left adrift after completing high school. Without recognizable certificates for either country, they are in great need of job-related skills and connections to local employers.

Youth Connect is a unique vocational-training program in Mae Sot, spending a minimum of 10 months on each student. This includes foundation & life skills training during the final year of high school, intensive job training, and a paid apprenticeship at a vetted local business, after which the apprenticeships have continuing career support.

This essay depicts new trainees in life skills classes and in practical job training at Youth Connect's social enterprises.