This story represents the virtuous circle the organization tries to build: young people who grew up in the programme, left it, and come back as volunteers, staff, or mentors.
The alumni network works as a mutual-support ecosystem. Some alumni participate formally as volunteers; others simply keep ties with village staff who accompanied them when they were children.
That continuity is one of the reasons accompaniment doesn't end at 18 — the formal model extends to age 24, and the relationships tend to last much longer.
What this means in practice
For a young person who left the programme, coming back to the village as a volunteer isn't retroactive charity — it's reciprocity. Those who can do it usually do. Those who can't, say so.
The organization asks nothing of them. There's no expectation of "paying back what you received." The idea is that being accompanied naturally reshapes your willingness to accompany others — and that this willingness is there for whenever life's timing allows it.