You say hello and I say goodbye!

Last week OYE welcomed back one of the long lost co-founders, Justin Otero-Eldridge. He will be with us for the next three weeks getting reacquainted after a year exploring the world. He has fallen right in step laughing with the scholarship students, visiting old friends and hunting mosquitos like an old pro. 

And no he hasn't lost his rhythm!

In all of the excitement over Justin's return we were also full of sadness. This week Erin left OYE and returned to the states. We always tell the students that people come and go, and that OYE is just a family that keeps growing but that does not make it any easier to say goodbye. 

Erin was an incredible asset to OYE for over a year and will be sorely missed by the OYE Honduras family. We wish Erin all the best and expect to see her back in Progreso, Baleada in hand, soon! 

She will try to deny it but Erin has a mean Bachata. 

Big week in OYE!

What a week we had in OYE! After more than two months of preparation, we had two weekends of capacitation with all 75 students. We have a total of seven groups that meet on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

The first week, we discussed OYE and what it means to be part of OYE. The second week was spent discussing self-esteem and doing self-esteem building exercises.

Above is one of the original OYE Scholarship recipients, Dunia Perdomo, leading her own capacitation group!

We also got to see all the students together again for the first time since December in our first monthly meeting of 2009. Check it out, this year we filled both sides of the aisle!

We also covered all of the office windows this week to protect the offices and add a little life to the EcoPasaje. Check out our "new" digs. A HUGE thanks to Rotulos S.M.P. and Ricardo Mejia for donating the window vinyls. The installation was an adventure but in the end out offices not only look better but are a lot safer.

We ended our two week marathon with a concert in Klien Bohemia in San Pedro Sula. A big thanks to Klien, Montuca Sound System and Hector Cerella for helping making this event a success. Over 170 people came out to support OYE and hear Montuca play. It was an incredible way to spend Valentine's day!

Fweh...I think that covers it all, but stay tuned from more adventures from El Progreso.

OYE receives grant from Starbucks & IYF

OYE has been awarded a 2008 Starbucks Social Entrepreneurs Fund Grant from the International Youth Foundation. OYE will use the support provided to give scholarships and leadership training to over 75 students and engage over 100 low-income youth in community projects.

For more information, visit: http://oyehonduras.org/iyf.php

OYE in the news

Today's news: OYE gives 75 students scholarships in 2009...

Thanks to the Progreseño for the coverage!

Adios a Progreso

At first glance, El Progreso doesn't seem like a place you'd want to stay for five months. It's dusty and hot like an oven in the summer, it pours rain in the winter, and well, there isn't a whole lot to do.

But upon further examination I discovered, like the volunteers before me and many more to come, that El Progreso is a city like no other with an amazing culture and beautiful people. I arrived here in August planning to leave in September, but there was something about this place that convinced me to quit my job in New York City and stay here for a full five months. That something is OYE.

I came to OYE from Guatemala. I had already been traveling and studying Spanish in Central America when a family friend encouraged me to pass through Progreso and help with OYE's radio program. I came without knowing what to expect and what I found here was a community of amazing kids, volunteers, employees, Hondurans, Americans, students, and adults all working for a better future.

Now it is time for me to say goodbye to Honduras, Progreso, and OYE. They say that time flies when you're having fun, and my experiences here made these five months seem like much less.

Here are some of the highlights:

>Working with and getting to know the youth of OYE, especially my group of talented radio students

>Feeling the excitement and confidence of the radio group grow through the year and then peak as we produced our on-location broadcast at our end of the year scholarship event


>Teaching what I am passionate about in a different language to students in a new country

>Playing soccer with the OYE crew


>Traveling to the beaches in Tela, the capital in Tegucigalpa, the volcanic island of Amapala,

the small villages outside of Tocoa, the resorts of Roatan, the backpacker paradise of Utila, the Mayan ruins of Copan, the discos of San Pedro Sula, and doing it all with great friends


>Eating way too much fried food, beans, cheese, and flour tortillas and loving every minute of it

>Learning from the fascinating cast of OYE volunteers, employees and students


>Waking up one day in November and realizing that I can speak Spanish!


I am grateful for everything OYE has given me and will miss the staff, the students, and maybe even El Progreso itself. I am leaving behind a great group of "becarios", and I am confident that the successes we had in 2008 will only multiply in 2009. I can't wait to read about them right here.

Goodbye and good luck!

-Carlos