Augusto Yuc Reyes

Augusto was born in Ciudad Vieja, lived on the coast from age 7 to 13 and then came back to Ciudad Vieja. When he was 15 years old he decided that he wanted to learn the carpentry trade. He knocked on the door of workshops to ask if they could teach him the trade, so he learned the basics of the carpentry trade in two years. Augusto started working in Guatemala City when he was 17 years old, he worked for 15 years at various carpentry companies and then was a teacher at a carpentry school in the city for 12 years. At this school he often worked with boys who were (ex) gang members or who were drug addicts.   

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Augusto really enjoys working with young people. ''Before I started teaching, I was extremely shy. Working with the young people has changed me, I am much more open now. I think that through my own experiences I understand better the young people of the project in Alotenango, they are often very closed and shy. I get to know the students well and build up a relationship of trust with them. I think the best thing is to see that at the beginning of a project the young people think they can't do something and in the end create something really beautiful."  

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Augusto has been living for several years in Alotenango, the village next to Ciudad Vieja, where the carpentry project is also located. Here he has his own workshop, where he works on assignments from various clients from a wide area. He receives a lot of orders through the media. "Having a good network is very important, " he says, "that 's how I get all my work."    

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He knew Vincente, the electrician the Timmerproject works with and saw that he had a t-shirt of the carpentry project. Out of curiosity, he visited the project and that's how he got to know Suzan. Suzan was looking for a new teacher in the summer of 2017. Suzan made an appointment with Augusto and visited his home with a number of students. There he gave a presentation about his skills to Susan and the students. Since October 2017, Augusto has been hired as a teacher of the project's vocational training.  

''There aren't many people here who help young people like Suzan does with her project. That is something very beautiful for our village. This way the young people have a chance for a better future."