Adobe Update

What do Friday and Saturday have in common?

The OYE office is full of local youth! Over 60 local youth, coming as far as Santa Rita (45 minutes by bus), are participating in OYE Adobe Youth Voices Project. These youth are learning photo and video editing techniques Friday morning, Friday afternoon, and Saturday morning.

While we are just beginning to play with our new cameras and explore the Adobe programs, but the most exciting part of this project has been the evolution of the youth. We have lead team building exercises that have focused on highlighting important youth themes and practicing ways to express oneself. With every exercise our participants become more animated and willing to participate. Youth that never expressed opinions are now analyzing, and planning video/photo projects that will analyze themes like "machismo" and "what it means to be a youth in Honduras."

So far this project has received incredible support from the community. We have had the pleasure of receiving in kind support from businesses like Acosa for the purchase of our Cameras. Local NGOs have recommended youth to participate in our program including, Pronino, Casa de Cultura, Vision Mundial, Comvida, and Caritas. And, we have to give a special thanks to Martin, who shared a workshop of photography, and KM2, that brought actors to lead some dynamic workshops helping the youth find their voices and tell there stories.

In conclusion, OYE is blessed to have the community of support that surrounds us and such incredible youth to work with. The project is going great and will continue to be a grand success.

Check back tomorrow for updates on OYE's mural projects.

OYE Students and Staff Attack New Projects

September is a month of beginnings for OYE. We begin working on a social media project with Adobe Youth Voices, our art students begin a mural at KM2's office, OYE staff will be presenting its first comprehensive socio-economic investigation of El Progreso, and all of our programs will begin planning for next year.

Adobe Youth Voices is an awesome project that introduces youth to the dynamic Adobe programs Photoshop and Premier Elements 10 and teaches them how to leverage socio/multi-media technology in order to send a message. Starting September 21, OYE will be working with 70 youth from El Progreso teaching different photo and video editing techniques. Along with technical skills OYE will lead the local youth in exercises that build their capacity to express themselves. The final goal of this project is to create a space utilizing multi-media to permits local youth to express themselves and contribute to a dialogue on themes that are important to them.

It has been a long time since OYE youth created their own social media projects. Under the leadership of founders Justin Otero and Ana Luisa Ahern OYE scholars produced Fotos de mi Pueblo, embedded below. This photo journal tells the story of El Progreso, Honduras through the eyes of OYE's youth. 

More recent social media projects undertaken at OYE include volunteer Richard Lakin's "Cipotas Empoderadas," a ten minute film following four of OYE's incredible scholars. Once again the ball is in the hands of local youth, and we are excited to see what they come up with, what themes, mediums, and messages they use.

KM2 is running this building! Occupying the Lobby and first floor, the third
floor and the penthouse 14th floor.  Check out this article on their growth:

KM2, OYE's shining star in Honduras, is a call center based out of  San Pedro Sula, Honduras that has taken a keen social interest in OYE. They have donated computers and checks to OYE, but now they give us the greatest gift of all-a WALL. KM2 has invited OYE to design and paint a mural on one of the walls in their office at Altia Business Park. For those of you not familiar with San Pedro, I'm guessing that includes most of the blog readers, this is like designing a mural in Trump Towers. We look forward to dressing up one of Honduras' tallest buildings.

OYE scholars plan #mural for @km2honduras twitter.com/oyehonduras/st…
— OYE Honduras (@oyehonduras) August 25, 2012

OYE Prepares its Socio-Economic Study for Presentation

OYE staff and students develop and execute a socio-economic study in association with World Vision. After months of research, proposals, drafts, and interviews OYE is concluding its study of community development in the NorthWestern Quadrant of El Progreso. The study analyzes the perceived shortcomings of community development as seen by heads of households. Hosted by World Vision, OYE will be presenting the results of its investigation to a group of interested NGO and community leaders in Tela, Honduras at the end of this month. This is the first time OYE has participated in a research project of this scale. We have done so with the hope that this study and the recommendations born from it will serve as a guide in future development projects initiated by World Vision and fortify the relationship between these our NGOs.

Study Snap-shots!

Conducting first person interviews.

"Not a single head of household interviewed over the age of 52 has achieved a university education."

 "94% of the heads of household interviewed view remissions as an important factor in the community. Only 4% believe that remissions are unnecessary."

"79% of the heads of households interviewed have a positive attitude about the possibility of making socio-economic improvements in their community"

Finally, we are entering that magical phase of the year that involves planning. OYE is looking at a strategic expansion of our projects. We always have the goal of self-sustaining projects and this year we will be making some serious infrastructural investments to make those a possibility. This involves technical equipment for both the radio and magazine group. We are looking thinking about mobility for the radio to take their show on the road and record live events. Our magazine is poised to enter a feverish growth phase as we bring the ability to print in-house to OYE. The end result is that large upfront costs will move these programs to the next, more professional level. 

Back to School; Determining the Media Preferences of Youth

Although Honduran colleges are on a two-week vacation and local high schools are in the middle of their semester, they offices of OYE have quite literally emptied sending staff and scholars back to school. Instead of receiving classes OYE is passing out investigations. Designed by Shawon Jackson and Viviana Mardones, Princeton volunteers, in conjunction with Luis Paredes, Yarli Yanez, and Fabiola Oro these investigations are designed to improve OYE’s radio and magazine projects.

OYE’s study, Determining the Media Preferences of Youth in El Progreso, examines youth expectations and preferences in regards to radio and magazine media to ultimately improve its communications programs. To complete this study OYE will visit 6 local high schools and interview 680 youth between the ages of 12 and 18.  

The focus area of 12 – 18 years of age has proved surprisingly inclusive as 45% of Honduras’ population is under the age of 18. Data collection for this study is going exceedingly well. With a slightly late start yesterday OYE completed data collection at Saint Elizabeth, a small Catholic school, and began collecting interviews from La Perla. La Perla, El Progreso’s largest high school yielded over 100 interviews yesterday but will be a multi-day process. To facilitate the interviews OYE has reached out to its network of educators. As OYE arrives to the schools, teachers invite the team into their classroom to administer the interview. The process has been smooth and effective so far, and within two days the interview process should be complete.

Many thanks go out to Shawon Jackson and Viviana Mardones who have invested countless hours into making this a professional and accurate study. These two volunteers have polished their investigative skills conducting ideological and literature reviews and working hand in hand with Luis Paredes to design a high quality investigation that will produce recommendations for improvements to OYE’s radio and magazine projects. By revealing a deeper level of understanding about what youth look for in these media outlets, OYE can reach out to El Progreso’s youth population in more effective ways and leverage the work down by these volunteers long after they are gone.

Stay tuned here for updates on this investigation and reflections from OYE volunteers.

Shawon Jackson

"I'm hoping to learn more about the nuances of surveying adolescents - understanding the various variables, for example, that can impact our results. Additionally, I'm hoping to become more comfortable speaking with Hondurans, in order to better my Spanish skills."

Viviana Mardones

"I am entering my junior year and will be doing social investigations of my own, and this [investigation] has given me an inside look at what its really like."

Special Thanks to KM2

 To a Great Future with KM2 Solutions!

Walter Molinari hands OYE director Marisol Fuentes a
donation of 26,977.60 Lempira, on behalf of KM2 Solutions

OYE is proud to announce the growth of a strong relationship with KM2 Solutions. Beyond the monetary support, OYE is looking forward to building a great relationship and a great future with KM2 Solutions.

KM2 has demonstrated a real desire to contribute to OYE’s philosophy of integrated development and make a difference in its community. This means they are giving more than money. Walter, KM2’s public relations manager, has taken the initiative to reach out to OYE in dynamic ways. We look forward to innovative collaborations with KM2 staff and facilities to bring our capacity building classes to a new level. Ideas for future alliances include incorporating Ted-talks into our capacity building program to touch on pertinent themes and stir a dialogue that will be moderated by professionals form the offices of KM2.

Although KM2 is a multinational organization its staff is principally composed of native Hondurans that have expressed an interest in giving back to their communities.  Although we cannot thank KM2 enough for the financial donation of $27,000 Lempiras, the real story here is the excitement about this vast expansion of OYE’s family here in Honduras.

To the individuals that compose the work force of KM2, we want to give each of you our most sincere gratitude.  Perhaps independently your donation seemed like a small sum or a small sacrifice but together your donations are converted into the hope, self-esteem, and future of at-risk Honduran youth. Your donations will be directly invested into OYE’s programs ensuring that our 50 scholarship students will continue receiving an integrated education that encourages and empowers them to become the voices and leaders of their communities.

Check out KM2 Solutions on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/KM2SolutionsHonduras

Thanks!

Attention: OYE YOUTH ARE AT IT AGAIN

Check out OYE's latest progress report for Global Giving.  See the latest pictures and read the latest updates. Marathons, Soccer tournaments, Murals, and Yoga are just a few of the activities your favorite scholars have been challenging themselves with.

Here at OYE we are especially proud of Paola and Eric who pushed new boundries and defied the Honduran law of the SUN (Stay out of it!). Taking OYE's mantra of a heathly lifestyle to the next level these brave young scholars ran 13 miles in the blazing Honduran sun.

In other news, OYE is proud to announce a youth social media project in collaboration with Adobe. OYE scholars, after a rigorous training program, will teach 50 Progreseño youth the ins and outs of Adobe's latest photo and video editing software.  The ultimate goal of this project is not to learn how to use this software but to put the software to work through the creation of empowering youth projects. So stay tuned for updates and to see the incredible finished projects that OYE's youth create.

To see the project report please click on the link below:

http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/oyehonduras/updates/

OYE YOUTH LEADERSHIP TRAINING