Many of us become nervous before flying, especially when it is our first time. Roly Zavala was no exception. The closest thing he had experienced was seeing planes in the sky above his hometown of Tocaña, some 100 kilometers northeast of La Paz. He had never even met someone who had been on a plane, so he had no one to ask what it would be like.
Today, that first trip into the clouds is a distant memory, and hundreds of similar trips have followed. Zavala is the first Bolivian person of African descent to become a member of a flight crew, a career made possible with the IDB’s support.
Zavala’s hometown is in Los Yungas, a rural, rainy region in the mountains, inhabited mainly by the descendants of slaves brought from Africa during the Spanish colonial period. Today, most of the jobs there are related to the cultivation of coca, coffee and citrus.
"The people who live there have a difficult life," Zavala says. "Most of the young people, those who want to get ahead, leave to look for work. There are not many opportunities.”
He remained in his hometown through fifth grade, before moving to a boarding school in the city of Coroico. After finishing school, he headed to the capital to study automotive technology. Then, several semesters later, Zavala’s career took an upward detour. He was offered the chance to train to become a flight-crew member for the national airline, Boliviana de Aviación, or BoA.
The opportunity came via the Employment Support Program (PAE, Programa de Apoyo al Empleo in Spanish), a government initiative to help young people find jobs that match their abilities. The program, which began in 2010, is now in its second edition. The IDB has supported both editions, with $20 million and $40 million in financing, respectively.
"The PAE is particular to the situation in Bolivia. It is a country with a high rate of informal work, which is especially complex for young people," says Manuel Urquidi, an IDB labor-market specialist in the country. "The situation is much more complex and difficult when you are a vulnerable young person, including those from indigenous communities or of African descent.”
Those disadvantaged populations have particularly benefited from the Program.
According to data collected in the Bolivian government’s 2013 Household Survey, a person who identifies as Afro-descendant or indigenous earns, on average, only 49% of the salary of a person from another race or ethnicity.
PAE data shows that after completing a year or more of training, 65% of program participants are employed. Some 52% are employed in the same place where they trained or in the same field. In addition, participants’ salaries increased by an average of 47% compared to their entry salaries.
"Now that I know aviation, my dream is to become a pilot," says Zavala. "For me it means a lot. It’s an example for children that nothing is impossible – that our people can move forward.”
And up.
Read more about Bolivia’s Employment Support Program here.