They felt completely out of place – three poor orphaned youth amongst a sea of well-dressed applicants competing for entry-level jobs at the Banco Comercial e Industrial (BCI), a large Mozambican bank. Looking around the room at his peers, João Mazembe thought to himself, “We will never get these jobs. They are just interviewing us to say that they gave us a chance.” Despite their doubts and fears, João Mazembe, Anita Saraiva, and Sofia Artur walked into the room that day with their heads held high, and left hours later with job offers from one of Mozambique’s most respected banking institutions, with Sofia testing the highest of all applicants.

Sofia, Anita, and João were encouraged to apply for the prestigious BCI jobs by the team from the Programa Para o Futuro (PPF) program, an integrated youth program implemented through FHI 360’s Capable Partner’s Program with funding from USAID/PEPFAR. PPF helps orphaned and vulnerable youth (OVC) ages 15-17 develop the skills, knowledge and behaviors to transition into healthy, productive adults. All three youth had graduated from PPF, where they learned how to land the highly competitive positions at BCI.

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