Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Focus Groups with the Grant Recipients

OYE's four month capacity-building program got off to a great start with two weeks of focus groups for the new grant recipients.

The focus groups were created to be an open space for the OYE team to listen to the students 
express themselves as individuals as well as hear what they want to do within OYE's program.
The fifty students are split up into small groups and come to one of three meeting times each week. The second week of the focus group OYE asked the students to tell us what issues in their communities were important to them. We asked them to think about the problems that they encounter and how they would work to change them.

We were extremely motivated by the answers and ideas that were expressed by the grant recipients and would like to share some of their thoughts with you all. Below is a combination of ideas presented by the three small groups:

1. Prejudice and Discrimination
2. Crime and Kidnapping
3. Prostitution and sexual exploitation
4. Corruption and lack of organization in the government
5. Education
6. Poverty and lack of resources
7. Ignorance
8. Exploitation of minors
9. Family disintegration
10. Drugs and Gangs
11. Physical and mental maltreatment
12. Sexually transmitted diseases
13. Environmental pollution
14. Immigration to the United States
15. Lack of recreational areas
16. Water treatment
17. Lack of work opportunities

The students then broke into small groups of four to five and chose one of the issues listed above. They worked together to create a short skit that they presented at the end of the meeting showing why this issue was important to them and their ideas on how to create solutions to the problem.

We are excited about seeing where their ideas and interests take us an organization.

1 comment:

OYE Honduras said...

Wow, these are incredible issues the group came up with! I'm impressed. Sounds like they are a really bright group, you guys are going to have your hands full with em! Good luck, and have a great time! By the way, this blog is so awesome, congrats everyone, y todos mis saludos a Progreso, I miss my Mary's Baleadas! Cuidanse mucho and keep up the amazing work. -Ana Baleada