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On April 18th, around 7am, a fire breaks out, ravaging Happyland slum in Tondo. More than 500 families are impacted. Stars and Catalysts of LP4Y Tondo launch the initiative of clothes and food distribution. Simultaneously, LP4Y catalysts from all over the world decide to send some videos and messages of support. It’s now the turn of the Youth of Tondo to thank them ! Marydee Castillo 22 management Joann Villarino 22 responsibility Abegail Ofiaza 20 management Rizza Rivera 22 responsibility Katherine Alcantara 18 responsibility Precil Olaguera 20 management Rose-Ann Alteche 25 autonomy Jhen Jhen Rivera 17 autonomy Mourene Hilario 27 star Aivie Dalina 22 responsibility Jemalyn Manozon 28 autonomy Jessica Argobano 20 responsibility Arlene Rebarter 24 autonomy Flordeliza Cezar 21 autonomy

Fitri Mulya Romadhani (19 yo), Adelya Maezelienne (20yo), Stars of the Life Project Center Cilincing, Jakarta, Indonesia The Stars of the LPC Cilincing took part in an action of solidarity, distributing foods to the ones in need in the neighborhood of Kampung Sawah, with the Food Bank Indonesia. In this video, two Stars, Fitri Mulya Romadhani and Adelya Maezelienne explain to you their actions!

In Mumbai several Stars from the LPC Malwani take the lead of food distributions initiatives in collaboration with AIMS Fondation to support the most needy ones. Zeeshan Khan, 19yo Sharukh Shaikh, 19yo Saddam Hashmi, 24yo Mehtab Shaikh, 20yo Stars of the LPC Malwani, in Mumbai, India

[French version below] Farahnaaz Shaikh is 24 years old. She's a Star (Alumni LP4Y network). She finished the « Professional Training for Entrepreneurs » of the Life Project Center in Mumbai in January 2020. For my part, I have been on mission for LP4Y since August 2019 and I'm coordinating LP4Y Alliance. Based in Kolkata for the last few months, I joined the Malwani Centre only a few days ago. So I met Farahnaaz for the first time on Saturday 20 June, when she stopped by the centre to discuss her situation. Farahnaaz is an impressive young woman. With her height alone! She exudes grace and a rare gentleness. We both sit around a delicious chaï (Indian spiced tea) prepared by Gaëlle, one of my « co-catalysts ». At first reserved, and perhaps a little impressed, because it's true that we don't know each other, it doesn't take long for Farahnaaz to open up. Her eyes light up and her smile widens by the minute. « Farahnaaz, she says, « in Urdu, it means always happy ». In India the name is chosen according to the position of the stars at the time of birth, and hers, it is true, seems meant for her. « Always happy », even when the path seems perilous.Farahnaaz does not fail. Two brothers, 27 and 19 years old, a 26-year-old sister, her father and her mother, that's what her family's like. Her mother and sister don't work. Her younger brother is looking for a job, whereas her father and her other brother work together in the production of bakery products. Evidently the last few months have been rough. Lockdown measures have been imposed on almost the entire Malwani district, forcing unemployment from which Farahnaaz and his family were not exempt. « Always depend on yourself » Before joining LP4Y in early 2019,Farahnaaz explained to me that she had a « void » of life: « Before LP4Y I had no life, no dream… always staying at home ». Her family, her ex-husband didn't allow her to be independent. With LP4Y, she is discovering a new world. She's learning English, to use computer software, but more importantly, to envision a possible future, making long-term plans and doing everything, always, to « depend entirely on oneself ». To begin with, her mother refuses to let her go through the program. But Farahnaaz insists ! And when she manages to get her to come and visit, meet the coaches, the other Youths, she finally lets herself be talked into it. From there Farahnaaz's future expands. And if Farahnaaz impresses me, it's above all by her deep understanding and so rare of what the word perspective means. For the first 22 years of her life Farahnaaz lived in 2D, on a flat background, an existence, a lifestyle she hadn't chosen... and even that she often had to endure. Farahnaaz had not yet learned to dream. Today Farahnaaz's identity, binding as any identity, has been considerably enriched. Farahnaaz is now an independent woman. Independence which she claims and cherishes in such a humble way that it immediately attracts the greatest admiration of anyone who witnesses it. This independence she owns it, it is something in her that is now rooted forever. Even if this independence has to be implemented and this for every day of the rest of her life. Her first steps in « job search » She explains to me, her eyes full of joy, that it was during her first job interviews that she was able to walk down the street without a chaperone ! For the first time, she has to go, sometimes quite far from home, alone, somewhere. This job search belongs to her. Naturally, the fact that she gets a job will benefit the rest of her family, but this job will be hers, her own! Because Farahnaaz is determined, smart and talented, that she practiced for hours with her coach Lorianne on job interviews, she quickly got her first job. It is a “tele-calling”company with a small but decent salary. Her face lights up as she tells of the joy she feels when the manager calls her back the day after the interview to tell her the good news. « For the first time he said he will call back... and he did ! I was hired ! ». The first day she's so nervous, her manager advises her to « have a good laugh» to relax. And she's still laughing about it! After a few weeks Farahnaaz quit this job, too far from home, and is then hired as a saleswoman in a computer hardware store. She will be fine there. Until April... The lockdown begins, the store lowers its iron curtain and lays off Farahnaaz... without even paying her last week's pay. Back home, confined, with the whole family since her father and brother also find themselves unemployed. There's a lot of pressure: Will there be enough savings available to feed the whole family? Spaces are narrow at home, the only water source (cloudy water…) is a 15-minute walk from her house. As for the job market, it seemed frozen forever... Yet Farahnaaz never gives up ! When I ask her if this period did not make her « lazy », if she didn't feel discouraged as she went along and as the days went by, she responds to me with incomparable gentleness « No coach, I never stopped looking for a job. » Every day Farahnaaz checks the ads on applications Naukri and WorkIndiaw which gives her access to job offers. And even though these ads are rare, she lists them, records them, prepares them and methodically calls each of the related contacts, always keeping track of those calls. 1, 2, 3, she responds to 30 ads facing 30 rejections. But no, nothing can be done she won't give up! So on June 1st, finally, she got a positive response. She will be one of the first LPC Malwani Stars to be back at work. I'm not surprised. It's not her dream job, she's back in a « Call Center », trying to sell life insurance. But it's just a step on her path. Farahnaaz didn't lose sight of the « Life Project Plan » that she drew at LP4Y : working in a bank! And not just any bank: the « Bank of Maharastra », nothing less than the government bank. It makes me smile, and I ask her why this one in particular. « Because this is a good bank ! People trust this bank ». Farahnaaz loves finance. Believe it or not, there are stars in her eyes when she talks about it. While she was first placed in the department « Communication » within the Micro-Economic Activity in which she participated as part of her training at LP4Y, she asked her coach to switch departments. « I wanted to be part of the Finance & Management Team ! ». Update the accounting books, open bank accounts for Entrepreneurs, count and make change, so many tasks she remembers fondly. She explains to me that working in a bank means having a decent job, in a good facility, stability and safety that will be valuable to her. She loves these meticulous tasks, she tells me that taking care of finances requires great precision and agility of mind. And she's absolutely right! Only to work in a bank Farahnaaz has to go back to school. She explains to me that she will have to follow a 12-month training which will cost her 50,000 rupees (i.e. 5 months of her current salary). Of course in order to be able to bear the cost of this training, she needs to save some money. These savings, she had already started....in the last few weeks it was completely eaten up. Farahnaaz « always happy » answers me serenely : « that's the way it is, coach, I'm going back to zero try to save 5000 INR every month on the 10 I currently earn. That's a lot of money, maybe every month I won't reach that goal. But it doesn't matter, I've planned 18 months before I'll have enough money to pay for my studies and to have a little money set aside to cover my training expenses.» Step by step coach. Rachel Cisinski, on mission for LP4Y since August 2019 currently working as Coordinator of LP4Y Alliance in Mumbai, India Farahnaaz Shaikh a 24 ans. C’est une Star (réseau Alumni LP4Y). Elle a terminé le « Training for Entrepreneurs » du Life Project Center de Mumbai, en janvier 2020. De mon côté, je suis en mission pour LP4Y depuis août 2019 et j’assure la coordination de LP4Y Alliance. Basée à Kolkata au cours des derniers mois, j’ai rejoint depuis seulement quelques jours le Centre de Malwani. Je rencontre donc Farahnaaz pour la première fois, le samedi 20 juin, lorsqu’elle passe au centre pour faire un point sur sa situation. Farahnaaz est une jeune femme impressionnante. Par sa taille déjà ! Toute en longueur, elle dégage une grâce et une douceur rare. Nous nous attablons toutes les deux autour d’un délicieux chaï (thé indien à base d’épices) préparée par Gaëlle, une de mes « co-catalystes ». Tout d’abord réservée, et sans doute un peu impressionnée, car il est vrai que nous ne nous connaissons pas, Farahnaaz ne tarde pas à s’ouvrir. Ses regards s’illuminent et son sourire s’élargit de minutes en minutes. « Farahnaaz», dit-elle, « en ourdou, cela signifie toujours heureux ». En Inde le prénom est choisi en fonction de la configuration des étoiles au moment de la naissance, et le sien, il est vrai, lui semble destiné. « Always happy », même lorsque le chemin semble périlleux, Farahnaaz ne faillit pas. Deux frères, de 27 et 19 ans, une sœur de 26 ans, son père et sa mère, voilà comment se compose sa famille. Sa mère et sa sœur ne travaillent pas. Son jeune frère cherche un emploi, tandis que son père et son autre frère travaillent ensemble à la production de produits de boulangerie. Evidemment ces derniers mois ont été rudes. Les mesures de confinement ont imposé à la quasi-totalité du quartier de Malwani, un chômage forcé dont Farahnaaz et les siens n’ont pas été exempté. « Always depend on yourself » Avant de rejoindre LP4Y au début de l’année 2019, Farahnaaz m’explique qu’elle avait un « néant » de vie : « Before LP4Y I had no life, no dream… always staying at home ». Sa famille, son ex-mari ne lui permettait pas d’être indépendante. Chez LP4Y, elle fait la découverte d’un nouveau monde. Elle apprend l’anglais, à se servir des outils informatiques, mais surtout à entrevoir un avenir possible, à construire des plans sur le long terme et à tout faire, toujours, pour ne « dépendre que de soi ». Tout d’abord sa mère refuse qu’elle suive le programme. Mais Farahnaaz insiste ! Et lorsqu’elle parvient à la faire venir pour visiter le centre, rencontrer les coachs, les autres Jeunes, elle finit par se laisser convaincre. A partir de là le futur de Farahnaaz s’élargit. Et si Farahnaaz m’impressionne c’est avant tout par sa compréhension si profonde et si rare de ce que signifie le mot perspective. Pendant les 22 premières années de sa vie Farahnaaz a vécu en 2D, sur fond plat, une existence, un quotidien qu’elle n’avait pas choisi, et même que bien souvent elle subissait. Farahnaaz n’avait pas encore appris à rêver. Aujourd’hui l’identité de Faranhaaz, contraignante comme toute identité, s’est considérablement enrichie. Farahnaaz est désormais une femme indépendante. Indépendance qu’elle revendique et chérit d’une manière tellement humble, qu’elle suscite immédiatement la plus grande admiration de quiconque en est témoin. Cette indépendance elle la possède, c’est quelque chose en elle qui désormais est ancrée pour toujours. Même si cette indépendance, il lui faut la mettre œuvre et cela pour chacun des jours du reste de sa vie. Ses premiers moments de « job search » Elle m’explique, les yeux plein de joie, que c’est à l’occasion de ses premiers entretiens d’embauche qu’elle a pu se promener sans chaperon dans la rue ! Pour la première fois, elle doit se rendre, parfois assez loin de chez elle, seule, quelque part. Cette recherche d’emploi, elle lui appartient. Bien sur, le fait qu’elle trouve un emploi profitera au reste de sa famille, mais cet emploi sera le sien, le sien propre ! Parce que Farahnaaz est determinée, intelligente et douée, qu’elle s’est entrainée pendant des heures avec sa coach Lorianne à passer des entretiens d’embauche, elle décroche rapidement son premier job. Il s’agit d’une entreprise de « tele-calling » avec un salaire petit mais décent. Son visage s’illumine lorsqu’elle raconte la joie qui la traverse au moment où le manager la rappelle le lendemain de l’entretien pour lui apprendre la bonne nouvelle. « For the first time he said he will call back... and he did ! I was hired ! ». Le premier jour elle est tellement nerveuse, que son manager lui conseille de « rire un bon coup » pour se détendre. Et elle en rit encore ! Après quelques semaines Farahnaaz quitte cet emploi, trop loin de chez elle, et est alors engagée en tant que vendeuse dans un magasin de matériel informatique. Elle y sera bien. Jusqu’en avril… Le confinement commence, le magasin baisse son rideau de fer et licencie Faranhaaz… sans même lui payer sa dernière semaine de travail. Retour à la maison, confinée, avec l’ensemble de la famille puisque que son père et son frère se retrouvent eux aussi au chômage. La pression est grande : y aura-t-il suffisamment d’économies disponibles pour nourrir toute la famille ? Les espaces sont étroits à la maison, le seul point d’eau (une eau trouble…) se trouve à quinze minutes de marche de chez elle. Quant au marché de l’emploi, il semblait figé pour toujours… Pourtant Farahnaaz ne perd jamais espoir ! Lorsque je lui demande si cette période ne l’a pas rendue « lazy », si elle ne s’est pas sentie découragée au fur et à mesure des jours qui s’écoulaient, elle me répond avec une douceur incomparable « No coach, I never stopped looking for a job. » Tous les jours Farahnaaz scrute les petites annonces sur les applications Naukri et WorkIndia qui lui donne accès aux offres d’emploi. Et même si ces annonces se font rares, elle les liste, les répertorie, les prépare et appelle méthodiquement chacun des contacts liés, gardant toujours une trace des ces appels. 1, 2, 3, elle répond à 30 annonces se heurtant à 30 refus. Mais non, rien à faire elle n’abandonne pas ! C’est ainsi que le 1er juin, enfin, elle obtient une réponse positive. Elle sera une des premières Stars du LPC Malwani à retrouver du travail. Ça ne m’étonne pas. Ce n’est pas le travail de ses rêves, elle est de retour dans un « Call Center », tentant de vendre des assurances vie. Mais ce n’est qu’une étape sur son chemin. Farahnaaz n’a pas perdue de vue le « Projet de Vie » qu’elle a dessiné chez LP4Y : travailler dans une banque ! Et pas n’importe quelle banque : the « Bank of Maharastra », rien de moins que la banque du gouvernement. Ça me fait sourire, et je lui demande pourquoi celle-ci en particulier. « Because this is a good bank ! People trust this bank ». Farahnaaz adore la finance. Croyez-le ou pas, il y a des étoiles dans ses yeux lorsqu’elle en parle. Alors qu’elle avait d’abord été placé dans le département « Communication » au sein de la Micro-Activité économique à laquelle elle participait dans le cadre de sa formation chez LP4Y, elle avait demandé à sa coach de changer de département. « I wanted to be part of Finance & Management Team ! ». Mettre à jour les livres de comptes, ouvrir les comptes en banque pour les Entrepreneurs, compter et faire du change, autant de tâches dont le souvenir lui est doux. Elle m’explique que travailler dans une banque signifie avoir un travail décent, dans un bon établissement, une stabilité et une sécurité qui lui seront précieuses. Elle aime ces tâches méticuleuses, elle me dit que s’occuper des finances, cela nécessite une grande précision et agilité d’esprit. Et elle a complétement raison ! Seulement pour travailler au sein d’une banque Farahnaaz doit reprendre ses études. Elle m’explique qu’elle devra suivre une formation de 12 mois qui lui coûtera 50 000 roupies (soit 5 mois de son salaire actuel). Bien sûr afin de pouvoir supporter le coût de cette formation, elle doit faire des économies. Ces économies, elle les avaient largement commencées… ces dernières semaines les ont complétement mangées. Farahnaaz « toujours heureuse » me répond sereinement : « c’est comme ça coach, je repars à 0. J’essaie d’économiser tous les mois 5000 INR sur les 10 que je gagne actuellement. Cela fait beaucoup d’argent, peut-être tous les mois je n’atteindrai pas cet objectif. Mais ce n’est pas grave, j’ai prévu 18 mois avant d’avoir pu rassembler la somme qui me permettra de payer mes études et d’avoir un peu de sous de côté pour assurer mes dépenses lors de la formation. » Step by step coach. Rachel Cisinski, en mission pour LP4Y depuis août 2019, actuellement au poste de Coordinatrice de LP4Y Alliance à Mumbai, Inde.

Tway Tar La Min, 23yo, Management step, Life Project Center Hlaing Thar Yar, Yangon, Myanmar My name is Tway Tar La Min. I am 23 years old and I am in Management step in the Myanmar,Yangon ,Hlaing Thar Yar LP4Y Coaching program. When I learned that the center was closing because of the lockdown, it was unthinkable for me, I thought “What will happen to my future?” During the lockdown, I attended Covid 19 virus volunteer program, Hlaing Thar Yar Youths network. At home, I had the responsibility of cooking, cleaning and washing the house. I also followed LP4Y digital training. During this period, I missed Hlaing Thar Yar LP4Y center, hearing my friends laughing and lunch together with my coaches. Now that the center is open again, my feeling is so great, I can’t wait to see my coaches and friends again. Since the reopening we are doing MEI work by department, digital training and volunteer time the youths can come to the center. Some youths are doing computer training, some youths are doing center renovation by small groups! For me, LP4Y is a place where I can explore my dream. LP4Y is important for me because before LP4Y I was asking myself “Who am I? What I do like and don’t like? What are my skills, my abilities and my hobbies?”. Now, LP4Y made me discover who I really am, what I want, and most of all, LP4Y gives me an opportunity. That is why LP4Y is important to me. At LP4Y I am working on my Life Project Plan. After LP4Y, I will find a decent job and improve step by step, so I will follow my dream which is to open my own shop. After I get my first job I plan to save money in order to buy a place where I can set up my clothes shop. I am still working on it. First, thanks to my LPP book, I learn how to look for a job, what I need to know and which skills I need to reach my dream job. We also have some guidance training, which allows me to think about my personal development. The IT training helps me to work on my resume and to send a professional email to apply for a job. Thanks to LP4Y and our partners, we can do mock interviews. I was lucky to do one with the CCI (French Chamber of commerce and industry in Myanmar). It was my first english interview. I felt very stressed but at the end I was so happy because Pascaline Griffon (Business and Marketing Manager at CCI France Myanmar) told me she could help me to find a job. It was interesting to think about questions I didn't think about before, for example imagine myself in 5 years or how to resolve problems with one of my teammates.

Honey Jean Bagting, 19yo, Autonomy step Life Project Center Cagayan de Oro, Philippines

Indra Chakradhari, 22 yo, Star Batch 2 GV Raipur, India India Sabitri Basnet, 20 yo, Management step Batch 1 GV Kathmandu, Nepal

Jitendra Kumar Tonde, 22 yo , Star Batch 1 Green Village Raipur, India

Sudipta Santra,19 yo, Responsibility Step, LPC Howrah, Kolkata, India I usually go for a walk on my rooftop in the afternoon. I get up to draw on my roof. I climbed to see the different houses in my neighborhood in different zones, to see many plants around, to see factories, to see water tanks from other houses, to see bridges and the best view is for me to see the open sky all around with the kites on each side. Most of the time, I go to the rooftop in the evening or in the afternoon, because the light is beautiful. I like these feelings, this is something very good . During this lockdown, I can not go anywhere else to hang out so when I feel like going to the roof, I feel better. I can see an open sky over my head.

Shabana Shaikh, 22 yo, Autonomy Step LPC Malwani, Mumbai, India Respected Coaches and dear friends, I am Shabana Shaikh, I work in Finance department. I want to start my speech with a question : how did I land in LP4Y ? The answer is very simple. It is because of my desire, or you can say hunger, to improve my English and also to learn some basics of computer. In fact some section of people speak fluent English but there are some section of people like me who has desire to speak English fluently but has lack of confidence and no idea how to use the words in proper order to form sentences. But the hunger to improve landed me here. If I honestly tell you all how my first day in the center was, it was not good at all. Whatever our coaches were telling, those things were just revolving around my head but I didn’t get anything. That was my first day experience, we all know every brain is different but today I am just sharing my own experience, observation and understanding in my own words. Next day I didn’t stop, I attended all the classes and the process kept going on. Gradually I learnt how to convert complex things into simple ones. That was the beginning of my learning, or you can say that step was the autonomy step at chich you start learning related about your stuffs with time. I keep on improving and our Coaches also noticed that improvement and they felt that I am reliable so they promoted me to enter in the next step which is responsibility. If I reached that step it doesn’t mean I conquered my target because my target is still and it’s my challenge, to speak English fluently, so guys what do you think about it ? Were this possible without any guidance ? The answer is no. It becomes possible only because of our Coaches, who guided me, supported me and helped me to clear my doubts for their dedication to work and support. I want to salute them and and I want to thank you to all our Coaches from the deep of my heart. At the end I want to say nothing is impossible, have patience, believe in yourself and keep alive the hunger of learning then impossible will say I am possible. Thank you Coaches and thank you all for hearing my long speech.

Don't miss anything about this brand new LP4Y's project in India!

The Youth Lab Team in Paris shares with us about their new place in Saint-Ouen and the coming projects to develop innovative solutions towards Youth inclusion. Jeanne Vigouroux, Saint-Ouen, France Since 2019, the Youth Lab Paris has been located in the Cité des Tilleuls, in Le Blanc Mesnil (93). A great opportunity for the team to be at the heart of the exclusion and make a diagnostic, understand inclusion related issues for the Youth in Seine-Saint-Denis and launch the project. Nevertheless, we were looking for a larger spot to make it a real Catalysts’ living and working place, and an open space for welcoming our training and events. Thanks to Société Générale, we found the perfect location : in a previous bank agency, closed and vacant for a few years. The place is accessible by the Paris metro, in Saint-Ouen, one of the cities of Seine-Saint-Denis. For the year to come and hopefully more, we benefit from it for free! The plan is to permanently establish the Youth Lab there, and find local grants to develop the project on the long-term. Renovating, painting, furnishing … It was a challenging undertaking. Arriving in August 2021, 4 catalysts started to take on this challenge. With the support of a few heroes, the Youth Lab team was ready to welcome fresh catalysts two months later in a beautiful, professional and warm environment. Some of you already visited us and can testify of the fruitfulness this community place enables. Seine-Saint-Denis has one of the 10 highest unemployment rates among French metropolitan departments. It mainly affects Youth : 28% of people aged from 18 to 24 years old are unemployed and do not have any qualification there. Yet, there is a lot of job creation, more than the national average. Inadequate qualifications, unserved neighborhoods, lack of public transportation, lack of “soft skills”, self-censorship, discriminations … are identified causes that do not enable the department's dynamism to benefit its inhabitants. Furthermore, there is a large social ecosystem, but if the impact is low, we can wonder if the cooperation between them is enough. Center for the development of innovative solutions to support the professional and social integration of excluded Youth : we aim at filling this gap. One of the main missions of the Lab is capacity building: organizing events to connect local actors and share good practices about Youth social and professional inclusion. The objective is to encourage dialogue and meetings between various local inclusion stakeholders, and work together on the development of innovative solutions. More than ever, nonprofits, policy-makers, corporates have to collaborate for change. We must capitalize on good practices put in place by each of us at the local level. So that tomorrow, each innovative method can be replicated and inspire new practices to foster the inclusion of young adults living in the 93. The next in-person roundtable gathering local inclusion stakeholders will happen on November 17th. As we are overall a sending organization, a series of inclusion training is coming : the what’s now event to accompany the catalysts back from the field in December, the inception training in January and the welcome weeks in February for the fresh catalysts on the departure. The 2021-2022 capacity building and training events calendar is planned : you will be able to discover it on our fresh new website very soon, stay tuned ! Befores and Afters - (Kitchen, dormitory & training room)