Flying High

It makes more sense here to begin at the end rather than the beginning,  as it's the things that have been learned on the way that open doors to the future. The word that 20 year old Ainõa Leticia  chooses to define her own path on the Mentoring and Skills Training project is “Resilience”.

It orginates from the Latin meaning “to leap backwards”. When the opportunity for selection on the Mentoring and Skills Training project came up it wasn’t exactly what Ainõa Leticia  was looking for. She says “I knew that  there were two options to train either in industrial mechanics or administration. When the Course Coordinator called with an available place, I knew that I should take it even though it wasn’t for  administration, which is what I initially had in mind.  I had to reorganise all of my other daily schedules to be available”

It was taking a leap backwards that helped  Ainõa Leticia   seize the moment.  The young girl finished her training with the Mentoring and Skills Training project in 2024 and passed selection  for an apprenticeship vacancy on the production line at Gerdau Long Steel. She completed a year at the company and when she least expected it was selected to represent the project in a national competition. 

The learning programme for the Mentoring and Skills Training project incorporates an entrepreneurial aspect set to develop leadership skills, creativity, self motivation and autonomy, all vital skills for the work place. It encourages students to create a small business together producing and managing the sale of an invented new product.

The high point was an opportunity to compete in the Junior Achievement Young Entrepreneurs' Competition for Pernambuco state. 

Leticia Ainoã’s product, created by her and the rest of the team won first prize in the state competition. In 2025 they were selected to compete nationally with groups of young people from all over Brazil. 

They flew high and landed in Rio de Janeiro to compete with the best young entrepreneurs and their new products. Leticia Ainoã comments “when we were competing for the state finals I learned a lot. I was nominated as Chief Executive and at times I thought that we weren’t going to get over the line. In these moments the Course Co ordinator and the team at Instituto Solidare really encouraged and motivated us to keep going.”.  When she reflects on her time at the national competition in Rio she says “ We developed our product in 2024 but in the competition there were also teams from 2025. I never thought that with the level of competition that  we would make the top ten products in the country developed by young people.  It’s an honour and a privilege to have reached this far and I am so proud of myself and the team”.

The next step for her is to specialise in the area of product development and she says “My goal is to finish my technical course in electronics and if I can to study electrical engineering”. Ainoã had the courage to take a leap backwards, adapt to the situation and grasp new opportunities. She is an inspiration and reflects the ethos of the training the young people are receiving so they can build better futures for themselves.

• Written by Eduarda Teixeira