Four Full Becas

To see a smile on the face of Luis Paredes, the director of OYE, is not an unusual site. In fact he´s almost always smiling and cracking jokes, but this week something special came over him. Luis´s excitement was palpable as his friend Ronald hammered away at the four new cubicles he had requested. Between excited exclamations and projections about the future, Luis found time to see to details, like he always does. He suggested how the trim be painted and assigned owners to each of the new cubicles.


Cubicle one will be shared between Yarly Yanes and the Radio, and Javier Duarte in charge of the newly established Art program. Yarly, who has been with OYE for three years, will be receiving a full scholarship in exchange for her leadership and guidance with OYE´s radio program. Through her drive and determination she has become a natural leader in OYE el Ritmo, and OYE Honduras is proud to encourage her to keep up the good work and take on more responsibility.


Likewise, Javier Duarte will be receiving a full scholarship to reinvigorate one of the key elements that makes OYE stand out as a positive force in the community: art. Javier, who was been with OYE since its founding in 2005, has become an important fixture within the community that OYE knows. He leads by example. He is outgoing, genuine, and friendly, and he never hesitates to help. Under his guidance, we’re confident that a new generation of OYE murals will coat the walls of El Progreso inspiring and engaging our neighbors.


Cublicle two goes to Morgan Clark-Youngblood and future volunteers. Morgan, a student from The George Washington University studying public health, will be conducting and analyzing a socio-economic and health investigation of the 75 OYE scholars and their families. With the hope that this study will deepen our understanding of the situations the scholars here at OYE face, it will better prepare Luis and the OYE team to lead pointed Capacity-Building programs and help these kids and families.


Cubicle three goes to Fabiola Auro and Mirna Macedo who will be working together on the Magazine project. ¨Jovenes,¨ Honduras`s only magazine that is both targeted at and produced by youth, is growing by leaps and bounds. These two scholars will be receiving scholarships to guide this project. They have demonstrated their ability to lead teams and manage details, and as university students studying journalism and publishing, they will bring new expertise to the table making the revista an even more effective means of reaching out to and engaging at-risk Honduran youth.


The fourth cubicle goes to Leonardo Mendoza a scholar and member of the staff here at OYE. Leo is in charge of the scholarship program, OYE´s premier program that consists of over 71 scholars currently. In addition to this, Leo will be assisting Morgan in her socio-economic and health investigation.

The OYE team is expanding, luckily for me into the other office. With the new positions and new responsibilities OYE hopes to extend its influences as well. Over the last five years and even five months this organization has grown in size and capacity. It is remarkable to see the influence and presence OYE has created in the town of El Progreso. Whether it’s a mural in a school, a bumper sticker on a taxi, or a copy of ¨Jovenes¨ one encounters signs of OYE`s presence all over the town. As OYE continues to develop, a greater number of its programs are led directly by scholars. OYE is an ever-expanding cultural space created by youth for youth to grow through direct positive interactions. If building new cubicles means putting more responsibility and ownership of this organization into the hands of the youth that run and benefit from it, then no wonder Luis was so excited.