Ahern-Kerndt Visit to OYE in El Progreso

On Saturday, February 19th, OYE board chair Trish Ahern, her 87 year old mother, Pat Kerndt from Lansing, Iowa, her sister Gretchen Kerndt from Fairbanks, Alaska and Trish’s husband, Patrick Ahern visited the new OYE offices in El Progreso, Honduras. The new OYE office, which they are still moving into, is awesome!

They are in the same Eco Pasaje complex as the old offices, but they now have a stand-alone two story building that gives the needed space including a large plenary meeting place on the second floor and an ample conference/meeting room on the first floor. We were there on a Saturday, which is a training day and meeting day and the place was teeming with positive energy and enthusiasm. In the morning there were two groups in “self-esteem” workshops for scholarship students (becados) in 7th through 9th grades and in the afternoon there were another two workshops of the same for the high school and college becados.

Now the staff will be able to work in its own office-- which even has a reception area! At the same time there is a dedicated space and equipment for the becados working on the Jovenes magazine, another space for the sound studio of the radio program, room for the book club and study groups as well as the many other activities going on.

The visitors also spent time with the four Mary Baldwin Social Work students A’ra, Shawnay, Felicia and Shanee who are spending the semester at OYE. That evening the staff and the visitors had a wonderful dinner at Las Tejas in El Progreso.

Youth Leading Youth: OYE's Self-Esteem Classes

The training includes classes organized by OYE staff for the scholarship leaders of the radio, sports, visual arts, and magazine programs, as well as training sessions for each of the teams of students who make up these programs. More general training sessions are carried out with the scholarship recipients at large and cover topics like “What is OYE?”, “Self-Esteem,” “Sexuality,” “Personal Goals,” and “Family Disintegration,” among other topics.

In addition to preparing the scholarship recipients for future leadership within OYE, the capacity-building sessions seek to empower the individual, providing a means to address and discuss areas of insecurity that may influence the actions and emotions of the youth. While the discussions are led by OYE staff, who range from 21 to 28-years-old, the students play an active part in directing each of the training classes with their questions, comments, and observations.

This week's capacity building class focused on "Self-Esteem" and involved the scholars studying the characteristics of people with varying levels of self-esteem through improvised dramatizations, along with other activities.

OYE's New Office

Check out photos from OYE's brand new and improved office space!

Thoughts on OYE: A'ra Alston (Semester-long Volunteer)

Author: A'ra Alston, Volunteer from Mary Baldwin College

Coming to Honduras, I knew I would be working for OYE, but I had no clue exactly what I would be doing. My time here has been amazing. I have enjoyed working in the communities that OYE has agreed to help out. What I am most excited about however, is my project. In America, we have an organization called Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. I plan to create a small-scale version of this here in El Progreso. I am undecided whether to keep all participants within the OYE scholarship student community, or to branch out and involve other Honduran youth. My hope is to pair OYE becados with other Honduran youth to form big brother-little brother and big sister-little sister relationships. With the organization in the U.S., studies have shown that "littles" who have a "big" role model in their lives are less likely to drop out of school, less likely to get involved in violence or drugs, and are more likely to be better leaders in their communities. I am hoping to have the same outcome with this project in El Progreso. I have been here for a little over one month and every day I learn something new about OYE. As of today, I have exactly 2 months left, and I am eager to see what is to come of this experience. We recently moved into the new spacious office! I was happy to take part in that. One room in this new office is about the size of the old office alone. We have moved beyond those 4 walls. The territory has been enlarged which means great things are about to happen. The limits have been removed, and I know OYE is about to breakthrough!!!

Hugs and Kisses for OYE

Author: Felicia Byrd, volunteer from Mary Baldwin College

‘Hugs and Kisses for OYE’ was an event that was originally supposed to be set up as a kissing booth. For 2 Lempiras, the community would get a red, cut-out heart with a Valentine’s Day message from OYE, a hug and a small kiss on the cheek from one of the volunteers. When I first proposed the idea to fellow OYE staff members and scholarship recipients, everyone seemed to have immediate reservations with the idea of kissing strangers (even though Hondurans often greet each other with kisses). The title of the event remained the same but instead of kisses we decided to offer paper valentines with messages written by Cesar Santos, a young poet and OYE scholarship recipient, hugs, and pieces of chocolate. I was pleased with the change.

The purpose of the project was to raise money for OYE while informing the community about OYE and its mission. Valentine’s Day was the perfect opportunity. Although it rained the entire time, we still stood outside in Mercedes Park to represent OYE. To attract the attention of the community, we sang songs and a simple chant: ‘Para Jovenes…En Honduras.’ Some people laughed and sang with us. Others just watched in curiosity

This was a successful event. All objectives were achieved and new fundraising ideas were developed. In total, we sold 35 hearts and raised 70 Lempiras for OYE.