As a society, we tend to encourage our children to "dream big" when they plan their lives.  Unfortunately, for the countless children worldwide who are growing up as orphans or homeless, these dreams are often discouraged and limited due to circumstances beyond their control.

Enid Vargas, PMP and the PMI Puerto Rico Chapter have a vision. They envison project management as a tool that will provide life skills which will help disadvantaged youth achieve their "big dreams."

In March of 2011, Enid and the chapter piloted a project management program at a children's homeless shelter in Villa Encantada, Puerto Rico. This program is modeled after a Children International (CI) program in the Dominican Republic which uses the Spanish translation of PMIEF's PM Skills for Life to teach project management as part of a leadership class.  Marlon Herrera, a CI staff member traveled to Puerto Rico to help Enid deliver the pilot program.

The goal of the program is to help youth develop a new way of thinking as well as improve their organizational and self discipline skills.  These improved skills will enrich their lives and better enable them to grow into productive and contributing members of society. 

During the program, 31 students aged 13-17 learned project management skills and applied knowledge through a variety of hands-on activities which helped them:

Ms. Vargas remarked, "even though many of these kids have gone through obstacles in their short life, they have enthusiasm, discipline, structure, respect, courtesy, the will to serve others, and above all, there is always a smile on their [faces]." She plans on continuing the program in the children's homeless shelter next year.

We congratulate the chapter and Enid for using their professional skills to give these disadvantaged youth a better chance to succeed in life and wish to thank Marlon Herrera from CI for traveling to Puerto Rico to lend his experience and help make this pilot a success.

PM Skills for Life, which was used during this program, can be downloaded in English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese on the PMIEF website for no cost for noncommercial use.