"And we thank you, Mercy Corps. You're changing lives."

- OPRAH WINFREY, DECEMBER 2005

[ EMIL'S STORY]

It's not unusual to see sparks flying at the Usta Construction Company, a collection of fading brick buildings on the outskirts of Jalalabad, Kyrgyzstan. But today the sparks are being launched by a couple of teenagers, clad in heavy canvas smocks, shooting red-hot flames in the shade of an open-air warehouse.

Eighteen-year-old Aziz Madazinov and 16-year-old Emil Sanjaruluu are honing their welding skills under the watchful eye of one of the company's experienced ironworkers. They're two of the three apprentices learning how to make everything from steel building frames to window bars to decorative iron gates as part of a Mercy Corps project that connects master seamstresses, bakers, mechanics, arborists, and other professionals with young people — mainly recent high-school graduates — in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Welding is a surefire way to make a good living, says Usta's owner, who currently employs 60 welders, carpenters and mechanics in his shop. An experienced welder can earn more than a college-educated worker, says Muhamatbek Kambarov to the nods of two of his welders.

"People say there's a great need for welders," says Emil. "If I can learn in a few months, why not?"