With the purpose of promoting community development and improving job opportunities, DESA Group, through its distributors EDEA, EDEN, EDELAP, EDES in the province of Buenos Aires, and EDESA in the province of Saltahas been developing a Trades Program for six years that aims to promote the growth of the communities where it operates, providing certified training courses openly and free of charge, which provide technical and socio-emotional skills to improve the labor insertion conditions of the people.
Working together with DESA Group and the Compromiso Foundation allows training in digital trades in prisons where programming, digital marketing, and electronic commerce courses are developed, among other tools. The courses generate a great social impact since they reduce recidivism by providing competitive skills when it comes to obtaining their freedom.
The Potrero Digital program is also applied in other spaces: in the month of November the first Trades Training Center of Edessa in alliance with the Municipality of Tartagal and the Commitment Foundation. In that town, located north of the province of Salta, free training for 50 people was scheduled, with an inaugural course titled “Digital Citizenship and Life Projects.” On that occasion, the Municipality of Tartagal provided space in the Juan Bautista Alberdi library, which EDESA conditioned and equipped with ten desktop computers.
Both in Tartagal and in the penitentiary units, the focus was on skills to improve access and performance in the current labor market, with technical content, digital English and interpersonal skills. It is worth noting that this proposal seeks to promote socio-labor inclusion through high-demand tools, which is aligned with the company’s purpose of transforming and improving the quality of life in the territories where it operates.
Education is not only essential to access quality jobs, but it also stimulates creativity, increases productivity and contributes to breaking cycles of inequality. With this approach, the DESA Group Trades Program seeks to offer tangible development opportunities to women, men and people over 18 years of age, who are in a state of social vulnerability.
Six years of training and inclusion
Since its creation, the Trades Program has had a positive impact on numerous people thanks to the 80 courses taught in 30 locations, in which more than 1,400 people participated in the Provinces of Buenos Aires and Salta. In addition, 80 institutions have benefited through the final work with the improvement of their electrical installations.
“We have the purpose of improving the quality of life of people by bringing energy to hundreds of communities in our country, accompanying their growth and development in a sustainable way, through inclusive, innovative and improving programs, with a focus on education, employment and the environment”, stated Mariana Reñe, Manager of Institutional Relations and Sustainability at DESA.
Half of the people who enroll in the Trades Program are women, and the company assures that they have the firm objective of accompanying the social transformation that the world is going through, further promoting equal opportunities and female access to work, keeping in mind that one of the great current challenges of the energy industry is to adopt a gender perspective, close gaps and create a diverse workforce, both in leadership positions and in technical areas.
Hence, in order to continue breaking stereotypes, during 2023 and 2024 they held the Women’s Edition of the Trades Program. In a traditionally and predominantly male sector, in the 6 years of the program’s history, nearly 200 women from different locations have been trained so far thanks to this project that is developed in alliance with the educational and social development areas of the municipalities. and with renowned institutions such as UTN, UNNOBA, CUSAM, Secretariat of Education and Gender Secretariat of General Pueyrredón, Regulatory Entity, Provincial University and Ministry of Education of Salta, Women’s Secretariat, Genres and Diversity of Salta, among others.
Home electricity for the community
The basic home electricity course consists of eight modules of two hours each, in which students receive the technical knowledge necessary to carry out the task, as well as general skills to understand the specificities of the electrical service.
It should be noted that all the materials and tools necessary to carry out the practices are delivered by the company at no cost to the participants, who to pass the course and obtain their certificate are evaluated by the teacher in charge in a final practice, in which conditions the electrical installation of a public good entity, multiplying the positive impact on the community.
Once completed, participants, in addition to obtaining the certificate issued by an educational institution, receive a basic tool kit, which allows them to have what they need to begin their professional development.
A special edition: basic electricity in the San Martín Prison, together with CUSAM and Espartanos
This year, and in strategic alliance with Compromiso Foundation, Espartanos Foundation and the San Martin University Center (CUSAM), the company carried out this course for people deprived of their liberty in Unit 48 of the San Martín Penitentiary Complex.
A particularity that this edition has is that the professor in charge is Martin Gavilán, a registered electrician, a student of the sociology degree at CUSAM, who served his sentence in penal unit 47. In addition, all the students who participated are close to serve their sentence, and this course means for all of them one more possibility of having a job in their social reintegration process.
In his first class, Martin said that “Being the teacher of this course is a privilege, and being part of it gives me identity. I love teaching, it was a very extraordinary event for the space and for the boys and girls, it is an event that impacts all of us and I would say that it is transformative, because in addition to incorporating this knowledge and training, they will have something that identifies them”.
Testimonials
Yanina, from Juníntook the course at UNNOBA, and during the process he said: “Here I learned the difference between energy and safe energy, I found a beautiful environment with a very heterogeneous group. For me it was enriching from every aspect, closing this course, in this way, and taking with me all the knowledge I could acquire.”. He also thanked “these spaces that are given for the community for everyone” and invited those who did not join to participate.
Natalia Llanosa student at the “Electrical Installations III” workshop in Salta, stated that “Although it was previously said that these courses were for men, because one related it to strength, women can, are also capable of learning.”.
Source: Ambito
