Here at Fontes we always strive to incorporate the students’ skills and passions into daily Youth Centre operation; be that encouraging a budding chef to sell her homemade samosas during breaks between classes, working with an aspiring young artist to help us design and paint the Fontes Youth Centre sign post, or most recently, asking one of our Core Course students Elicia, who is a certified electrician, to use her skills to assist the Youth Centre during our rewiring and electrical installation process at the new Fontes Youth Centre site.

Before joining the Fontes Youth Centre, Elicia worked as a video librarian whilst completing her certificate in Electrical Installation. Elicia chose to leave secondary school a couple of years before the official finish date because she had always dreamed of being an electrician, and so she decided to seize the opportunity to complete the Electrical Installation course when the opportunity arose. Elicia explained that becoming an electrician was her dream even when she was still in primary school; she was inspired by groups of electricians climbing poles and working on wiring in her local area.

Elicia decided to join the Fontes Youth Centre after completing her certificate in Electrical Installation in order to acquire ICT skills, and she said that she enjoys the ICT classes at PYC most of all. She is currently a student in the Core Course, which is a 6 months full-time programme structured around Business English, Entrepreneurship, ICT and Personal Development classes. As a final exam, students present a business plan to a panel of experts, using the full spectrum of skills they acquired.

Elicia’s goal in life is to be able to build a house for her parents and to start her own business. She told Fontes Foundation that she feels happy and excited when she practices electrical installation and that she finds it easy to do. After her time at PYC, Elicia hopes to start her own electrics enterprise will the skills that she has acquired during her time at the Youth Centre.

Thank you, Elicia, for sharing your story with us!

Fontes Youth Centre Core Course student Elicia wiring the new Centre lighting.