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

2013 Project Growth

After a busy month of planning OYE is excited to have set its agenda for the new year, 2013. The annual plan entails many improvements and innovations in OYE’s system of operations.

In 2013, OYE will empower more socially conscious youth with the tools they need to become leaders of positive change in their communities. To improve upon its system of integrated development that involves capacity building classes, financial academic support, and hands on community engagement OYE has examined each individual aspect and made improvements where necessary.

The scholarship program, offering at-risk Honduran youth the resources they need to stay in school, is the heart and soul of OYE. The scholarship program is a hook that drags students and parents to OYE. In 2013 OYE is not only increasing the number of scholarships offered by 20 but improving the quality of academic programs. OYE will refine its reinforcement of formal education and ability to raise the consciousness of Honduran youth in key areas through its book club, and study circles. These aspects of the scholarship program have existed for several years, but this year they will be allocated more resources and take concrete form. Another innovation developed by OYE’s youth coordinators was to provide a space for University Entrance Exam Prep, basically the equivalent of Kaplan Prep for SATs. The students identified the need to create a space for high school students going on to college to meet, practice questions, review test taking techniques, discover their weak areas, and study to prepare for the University Entrance Exam whose score decides the career paths available to students. This is a very positive innovation on behalf of OYE and highlights why it is important to involve beneficiaries in institutional programming.

OYE’s Art, Radio, and Magazine programs are all ready to take great steps in 2013. Thanks to a great year in 2012 OYE is in a position to invest in our projects in a way that we haven’t been able to in years. Each project will be equipped with the materials and resources necessary to achieve a larger impact in the community and become more financially independent. Direct impact is the name of the game in 2013. Each of OYE’s dynamic Communications Programs will be receiving professional capacity building classes throughout the first half of the year. Entering the second half, the students will be hosting workshops and directly involving local at-risk youth from outside the OYE community.

The Art program will host youth workshops to teach a theme or technique and work with local neighborhoods to identify common needs, goals, problems, or themes and then produce a mural with a social impact.

The Radio will be working closely with local organizations to open up air space for community events and progressive youth voices. To do this OYE will train other local youth in recording, editing, and broadcasting.

Finally, the youth magazine “Revista Jovenes” is poised to begin in house production. This is a great opportunity for the youth to own every aspect of magazine production, reduce the cost of publishing, and realize new financial sustainability. The cost savings will be directing into improving the quality of the articles published and the resources available for the youth journalists.

Thanks to your support in 2012 we had a great year and are excited to have another great year in 2013. Please take a minute to browse through our links and think about why you gave to this organization in the past. We work hard to empower at-risk Honduran youth with incredible potential. Thanks to your support we can create the opportunities that every child deserves, opportunities that allow OYE scholars to stay in school and become community leaders, opportunities that prevent at-risk Honduran youth from falling into dangerous lifestyles, and opportunities that improve the whole community by nurturing the conditions to break the cycle of poverty.

If you follow Honduras in the news you are very aware that the country is worse off today than it was 2 years ago. Violence, crime, and gang activity is escalating. San Pedro Sula, just 15 minutes away from OYE, is considered one of the most dangerous cities in the world due to high murder and crime rates. Honduras needs to generate more opportunities for its youth to grow into concerned and active citizens. Honduras needs NGOs, academic support, and growth in its civil society now more than ever. An institution like OYE is the best tool out there for stopping crime, violence, and gangs. More youth need to be involved in community projects, believing and participating in volunteerism and community development should be the trend not the exception. Please, contribute to OYE to invest in the youth of Honduras - lets give them the tools to change their country.

Why Should We Empower Youth?

OYE Scholarship student Yarli Yanez asks Central American Youth Leaders, "Why we should empower youth?"

A huge thanks to Seattle International Foundation that sponsored our Central American Youth Leadership Conference. This video reflects on the importance of youth empowerment in Central America. Each of the organizations represented in the video are associates of Seattle International Foundation whose idea it was to bring us together and discuss best practices. The event was a huge success. It served as a reaffirmation of our goals and values and motivated each organization to to invest everything we can in our youth.

Central American youth are the change!

Its a New Year! Entrega de Becas Welcomes 70 OYE Scholars to 2013

2013 OYE Scholars

I still don’t know how we pulled it all together! A day before the Entrega de Becas, our yearly welcome ceremony for OYE scholars, we were still trading stories about vacation and dusting off the keyboards. Due to unforeseen events we pushed the ceremony forward one day and it was one us before we realized!

Marisol and Dunia Supervising the decorations

Up went the decorations. Gerald, our art program coordinator, doubled as party decorador. He and his students dressed our upstairs conference hall in green and white streamers, they glued together paper globes of matching colors, and hand crafted OYE’s first ever portable display screen for our brand new projector.

We scrambled about the office and about town Friday the 11 putting the finishing touches on the ceremony. We hauled 100 plastic chairs across town and printed out the certificates. In the last 30 minutes we tested the microphones and changed from our sweat soaked tshirts into new, stylish, green OYE Maya logo tshirts that unified the staff anda ll 2013 scholarship students.

Guests of Honor

Doors opened at 1 pm and the familias of scholarship students poured in. They paused briefly in the reception to be bchecked out and for the new OYE student to receive a their their bright green shirt. As everyone filed up stairs moms, dads, brothers, and sisters filled in the back rows and a chatty sea of green flooded the front rows. The number of OYE scholars and familias grew and grew! OYE is never as fun as when its full of students and familias.

At 2 pm the ceremony began, with the opening words of Director Marisol and Vice President of the Board Eduardo Umanzor. Tragically, I took over the reception and waited for ther last few stragglers to wander in while Marisol and Eduardo eloquently pumped up the crowd with OYE’s mission and vision:

Eduardo Umanzor, Mrisol Fuentes, and Dunia Perdomo - From left to right

Mission

OYE’s mission as a community-based, youth-led organization is to develop the leadership and capacity of at-risk Honduran youth who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and might otherwise be drawn to the path of crime, violence, drugs, and/or gang involvement. OYE’s integrated development approach combines formal education, youth capacity building, and community engagement to inspire and equip young people with the awareness and skills they need to take control of their lives. OYE’s model of sustainable, long-term development focuses its efforts on the empowerment of socially conscious youth who will emerge as leaders and agents of positive change in Honduran society.

Vision

OYE envisions a society where all young people, regardless of race, gender, religion, class, sexual orientation, or abilities, are given the opportunity to exercise their leadership potential. Once they are educated and trained as leaders, OYE youth realize the positive impact that young people can have on their communities. In such a society, young people have a powerful voice and know how to effectively use it to create change in their lives and communities.

Fabiola Oro and Oriel Diaz

By the time I made it up we had arrived to the heart of the program. Oriel diaz and Fabiola Oro were revisiting the 2012 year in photos. They shed light on each of OYE’s youth led projects by presenting photos of individuals and groups from Art la Calle, Jovenes Revista, OYE Ritmo (Radio), Copa OYE (Sports), and our capacity building classes. The presentation always gets me, and many others, a little nostalgic for the good times we have shared together. Many family members get excited as they see what their son or daughter will be involved in.  The MCs of the event, Yarli Yanez and Gerald Velasquez, prepared a short presentation explaining the details and goals for OYE’s art, magazine, and radio project in 2013.

MCs Yarli Yanez and Gerald Velasquez

The MCs transitioned from history and facts about OYE to the presentation of OYE’s 2013 scholars. As their names were called each new or old scholar made his or her way to the ceremonial table to receive a certficate presented by a member of the “table of honor.” Presenting the certificates were Director Marisol Fuentes, Program Coordinator Dunia Perdomo, guest of honor Walter Molinari, and Vice-President of the Board of Directors Eduardo Umanzor. From my prospective, it was during this traditionally tedious affair that OYE really identified itself.

When I attend such ceremonies I fear the momento that we indivudally call each beneficiary  to come to the front of the room, shake a hand, receive a diploma, and take a picture-it takes forever! However, this time is was different. That is to say, it was fun! As names were called people cheered and teased and teased back. There bows and cat calls, there were hugs and chuckles, and it was the best awards ceremony I have had the pleasure of participating in. My only issue was that it was far too short – if only we had to budget to support 100 scholars and not just 70! QUE LASTIMA!

A huge thank you goes out to all of you who reached out and donated to OYE over the Holiday Season. The donations at the end of one year are very strong indicators and set the pace for the next. Your support is what allows us to introduce new at-risk youth into the OYE family and make a positive impact in El Progreso, Honduras. Now if you didn’t donate remember its never to late!

Learn about Donating

$50 is a University Scholarship

$30 is a High School Scholarship

$25 Sponsors a capacity building class of Sexual Education

$1 Because no amount is too small

$0 is too small! You can do better than that!

KM2 VS OYE Soccer Match of the Century

Step right up and place your bets!

Today at 3 pm OYE Honduras takes on KM2 Solutions at the San Jose fields.

This might just be the game of the century! OYE's wild young team will be bringing its quick and physical game to the older KM2 team.

Game plan:
Surprise the older office employees with dazzling speed and youthful vigor launching a relentless onslaught of offensive attacks and defensive counter attacks. OYE will run the opponents into the ground banking on the fact that they are from a larger cooler city and will not be accustomed to playing such a fast physical game under the blazing sun and humidity of El Progreso.

We can't forget that with age comes wisdom and experience. This means all those cumulative years stacked on to KM2's team count for something. If they play well as a team, control the pace, and measure their energy we just might have a big problem.

A big thank you to KM2 and Walter for organizing and sponsoring this event! I hope you don't beat you too badly!

After reading this article cast your vote! Let us know who will win and what the score will be after our hour long game.