Mac Whyte, Vocational skills/Restaurant apprenticeship training Project Manager and President of Butterflies en Mexico with (from left to right) Francisco Nava, Vocational Skills Training Committee; Laura Ocha Hernandez,​ apprentice; Esperanza Ritchie, La Mision Restaurant; Jesús Losuna Zausedo, ​restaurant mentor; ​and Michael Ritchie, ​owner ​La Mision Restaurant.
 
Mac Whyte, along with the Butterflies en Mexico Vocational skills committee, presented Laura Ochoa Hernandez of Tepeque on November 3 with a diploma for the completion of her Front-of-Restaurant/English apprenticeship at La Mision Restaurant. Hernandez also received a letter of recommendation on Front-of-Restaurant Skills and was offered a part-time position at La Mision for her excellent performance.
Hernandez became the first graduate of a 96-hour Front-of-Restaurant apprenticeship at La Mision plus an additional 32 hours of private English classes, all focused on the needs of restaurant patrons.
 
BeM is seeking sponsorship funds of $4,536 pesos (about $239 USD) to place another restaurant apprentice.  La Mision and a few other local restaurants have generously volunteered their time to provide the in-restaurant training, so the majority of the funding required is to pay an English instructor who can quickly and flexibly teach the words and phrases needed to be successful in front-of-restaurant work.
Anyone who can recommend possible future training candidates, please contact Bernadine Janzen at tattacbsj@gmail.com. To learn more about the BeM programs of encouraging local youth to make healthy life changes, visit www.gomariposa.org