Vacations are Over

Greetings faithful Blog Followers,

The familiar buzz has returned to the offices of OYE! Youth are loitering with intent to learn! This Saturday is the apertura (first day of operations) for OYE's 2013 Capacity Building Classes. On top of the charlas (workshops), OYE's art, radio, magazine, and multi-media project were in full swing today. After 1.5 lagging months of planning the storm of excited youth re-energized the office. It's nice to feel alive!

What were you up to over winter break?

Luis Castro - New Scholarship Student

Luis Castro:

"Over winter break I was working as an assistant at a bakery. Bakery Gladys behind the OYE office."

Returning scholarship student Sthefanie Matute

Sthefanie Alejandra Matute Velasquez: "Every year around  Christmas I organize a marble  tournament in my community, La Mendieta. This year over 25 kids competed in the tournament and even more volunteered to help. In addition to the marbles, we played soccer.

Returning Scholarship student Kevin Cruz

Kevin Cruz:
"I was in Yoro working during vacation. We were harvesting coffee, and finished just a few days before school started back up."

Returning scholarship student Sandra Fiallos.

Sandra Fiallos:
"Over vacation I read. There were two books. One was Porque las Mujeres Aman Demasiado (Why Women Love to Much). Es un libro muy bonito."








So now that everyone has cut their coffee, baked their bread, read their books, and played with their marbles the offices feel alive. The students are jumping into their community engagement projects and joining Dunia Perdomo for capacity building classes. Dunia, who is a former OYE scholar, is the newest team member. As Program Coordinator she has worked hard to prepare this years Capacity Building Curriculum.

Capacity Building Classes

This year OYE has divided its scholars into three distinct levels based on age and experience. Each level convened as a small focus group to select the themes most important to them. Under the leadership of Program Coordinator, Dunia Perdomo, the following themes were selected:

Level I

Valores	23-Feb
Autoestima	2-Mar
Desintegracion familiar	9-Mar
Violencia intrafamiliar	16-Mar
Noviazgo	23-Mar
Sexualidad I	6-Apr
Sexualidad II	13-Apr
Primeros Auxilios I	20-Apr
Primeros Auxilios II	27-Apr
Redes Sociales	4-May
Realidad nacional I	11-May
Realidad nacional II	18-May

Level II

Valores	16-Feb
Autoestima	23-Feb
Adicción a las drogas	2-Mar
Noviazgo	9-Mar
Sexualidad I	16-Mar
Sexualidad II	23-Mar
Embarazo en adolescentes	6-Apr
Primeros Auxilios I	13-Apr
Primeros Auxilios II	20-Apr
Profesionalismo	27-Apr
Redes Sociales	4-May
Influencia de los medios de comunicación	11-May
Política I	18-May
Política II	25-May

Level III

Inteligencia Emocional	16-Feb
Liderazgo	23-Feb
Sexualidad I	2-Mar
Sexualidad II	9-Mar
Historia de Honduras I	16-Mar
Historia de Honduras II	23-Mar
Cultura hondureña	6-Apr
Primeros Auxilios I	13-Apr
Primeros Auxilios II	20-Apr
Técnicas de estudio y creación de un curriculum	27-Apr
Oratoria	4-May
Derechos humanos	11-May
Política I	18-May
Política II	25-May

Students Initiate New Projects

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OYE features multiple capacity programs. The general capacity program is a requirement for all OYE students to participate in. This program that talked about sexual education, self esteem, Honduran reality, and a variety of other important topics ended last week. However, OYE’s other capacity building program is in full swing. This second program is a six part course proctored by OYE’s director Luis Paredes. Through this program Luis uses his knowledge and personal experience to teach OYE’s future community activists. At the end of this 45 hour program, the students enrolled will receive degrees demonstrating that they have learned about the process and challenges of launching NGO, environmental, community, cultural, or health based projects. Aside from learning about the process of planning and implementing one of these projects, the students are proposing projects of their own to be incorporated into the OYE program.

Between Luis` leadership and experience and the determination and intelligence of the students the ideas that have been generated are well thought out and interesting. They are both an ends and a means for OYE to achieve its goals. On the one hand, these projects propose to address problems or issues within Honduras. The success of these projects would promote culture, art, music, and sports as a means for Honduran youth to grow into confident capable adults. However, beyond this, the projects planned and administered by the scholars of OYE is incredible in itself. It is putting youth in the driver’s seat of their own lives and the future of OYE in their young but capable hands. Under the guidance of the OYE team, this group of 12 youth with their two projects will move OYE forward in new and possibly unseen directions. These projects are the manifestation of the OYE`s goals. As this class comes to a close and the 12 OYE scholars pitch their ideas, they are purposing the future of the organization and in this way OYE is realizing its goals as its students pursues them.

While this is only my third week here, I am fascinated and enchanted by the way this organization works. Through its capacity programs it pursues long term objectives and immediate empowerment results. The students here, day to day, demonstrate a drive to make themselves and their community better. I believe that putting these impressive young students in positions to lead, create, and innovate is the best way to cultivate their empowerment. While they are the future, they are also the present, and by giving them hands on experience we are not preparing them to be leaders. They are growing into leaders today.

The staff at OYE has often said that the scholars in OYE are here because they have potential. While all the students in OYE take responsibility for their part in a project like the Revista or the Radio Program, the ones who are ready step up, to create, and innovate are mentored by Luis as they purpose and implement OYE programs of their own. Maybe potential isn’t the best word, but it’s the first that comes to mind. These students have demonstrated that they have more than potential because they are doing it. They are becoming leaders in their own right and in OYE. They aren’t perfect, but was their ever a perfect leader? They are learning, and they need polish, but they are OYE, and they will bring OYE in their own direction.

Sam Rioux

COPA OYE 2010 Video in English