More than 80 OYE scholars from each of OYE's programs (La Calle, Revista Jovenes, OYE el Ritmo, Copa OYE, and Intercambio Cultural), led by youth scholar Fabiola Oro, joined forces on Youth Service Day (April 16, 2011) to clean up El Progreso's act...that is, to have a positive and sustainable impact on the environment. Using funds OYE received from Disney Friends for Change, OYE scholars split up into teams to clean up the heavily polluted Pelo River in El Progreso. They worked all day under El Progreso's blistering sun in neighborhoods such as Palermo, Bendeck, Suyapa, and Penjamo. The municipality donated garbage bags, and OYE scholars filled more than 100 of them with garbage in and along the river.
With the hope that people will stop polluting the river in the future, scholars from OYE's art program, La Calle, created 12 signs, which they carried through local communities and placed along the river. OYE scholars also worked hand in hand with local youth to show them the importance of protecting and preserving the natural beauty of their city and country.
Congratulations to OYE for a job well done. The environmental project will continue into mid-May, when a smaller team of OYE scholars will travel to Cayos Cochinos to perform a beach clean-up and community outreach with an environmental organization run by local youth from the Garifuna community.
