Hear the Rhythm of OYE at OYE el Ritmo

On Saturday night, OYE celebrated it's third anniversary with an event we called, OYE el Ritmo, or Hear the Rhythm. 

The event took place at La Casa de la Cultura.

We held a press conference to kick off the event. OYE Director, Sandra Erika Gomez Osorio, and OYE co-founder, Ana Luisa Ahern both spoke about the history of OYE, scholarship recipients told about their experiences with OYE, and Volunteer Coordinator, Erin Coutts, explained the OYE volunteer program and thanked volunteers for all they give to OYE.

OYE el Ritmo began with a presentation of awards to OYE's most valuable supporters throughout the past three years, Eduardo Umanzor, John Keleher, the local advisory committee, Sor Teresita, Casa de La Cultura, and Care Honduras.

   

The rhythm of the night began with a dance competition with participants from 5 local high schools. Congratulations to the team from Instituto Notre Dame! 

Two scholarship recipients contributed their musical talent to the event. Dunia Pordomo, an OYE scholarship recipient for all three years of OYE's program, sang four solo songs and Oscar Ramos played the base guitar in his church's band.

      

Estrellato, a group of young boys from San Pedro Sula ages 16-21, played a few of their own songs and then covered songs from Enrique Iglesias and Mana to steal the hearts of the high schoolers in the audience. They signed autographs after the show.

Montuca Sound System, a reggae and rock band from San Pedro Sula, closed the night with songs like "Welcome to San Pedro" (altered to "welcome to Progreso" for the event), "Un Poco de Amor" and music from Manu Chau and Bob Marley.

While all this was going on, what did the OYE Staff, volunteers, and students do?

They sold tamales, baleadas, and fruit.

AND DANCED!