Support Girls Leading Change in Honduras

Dear Friends,

As an organization and as human beings, we are deeply concerned and saddened by what is happening at the border. We want young people and their families to have opportunities to live and thrive in Honduras, not make the dangerous journey to a place where they are forcefully separated from their loved ones and treated as less than human by so many.

Most young Hondurans do not want to leave their homes and families, but they need opportunities to stay in Honduras. We believe that providing young people, and especially young women, in Honduras with education and opportunities is crucial to breaking generational cycles of poverty and reducing economic inequality.

Scholarships are important tools to combat inequality in access to secondary and higher education. For so many of our young scholars, the scholarship they receive from OYE is the only consistent economic support they can depend on month to month.

One such scholar is 17-year-old Migdalia. She lives with her grandmother, the only mother figure she's ever known. As an infant, her young mother went from home to home trying to give her away. In the end, her paternal grandmother took her in and raised her as her own. Her father lives in a town several hours away with his new family, sending $50 a month to help support household expenses.

Each month, Migdalia's grandmother finds a way to scrape together the funds they need to cover their basic needs. Before receiving an OYE scholarship, Migdalia walked over 45 minutes to and from school each day to cut costs. With the support of an OYE scholarship, Migdalia is now able to cover most educational expenses and her bus fare to and from school. Furthermore, she has access to OYE’s homework center throughout the week. Our on-site homework center provides a space where our scholars and their peers can use our computers (with Internet access) and basic school supplies, and print their assignments, free of charge. On the weekends, Migdalia participates in our youth-led arts program and girls' empowerment program "Let Girls Lead."

As our reach continues to grow, so does the expense of sustaining these crucial opportunities. Thanks to you, we are able to meet their needs. For now.

For us to step up our support for our scholars and continue to expand our reach, we need our generous community of donors and supporters to step up, too! One of the best ways you can step up for us is sharing our work with friends, colleagues and family members who you think would be interested in our work. It is as simple as forwarding this update with a personal message from you on why you support our work to educate, empower and engage youth in Honduras.

As always, thank you for continuing this journey with us.

In appreciation,
Amanda

P.S. We want each and every one of the teen girls supported by this project to receive a copy of "Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls" - to read on their own and with their younger siblings. If you are already giving, or would rather give in-kind gifts, please consider purchasing this book, or another item, on our Amazon Wish List.

Dear Friends:

"Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today." Malcolm X.

Just one week ago, we kicked off 2018 with our annual  "Entrega de Becas" ceremony, where we (re-)welcomed 135 new and returning scholars - and their parents or guardians - to the OYE family. Our "Adelante Jóvenes" Scholarship Program has been the heart of OYE since our foundation in 2005. We believe that education is key to breaking generational cycles of poverty - and most especially girls' education.

This important program would not be possible without your support. We would like to give a special and heartfelt shout out to our recurring donors! We are so grateful that we can count on your support month to month, year to year. Your consistency allows us to be consistent for the young people who need our support.

OYE's consistent support changes lives. Do you remember Johanny and Lastenia?

To refresh your memory, we introduced you to sisters Johanny and Lastenia in late 2016 via this video. In 2012, their father died in a car accident, devastating their family emotionally and economically. Like so many other young people from single-parent, resource-poor famiies, and despite the tenacity of their mother Johana, Lastenia - the eldest of the two - was unable to return to school the following year.

One day, as she scoured the city in search for work, Johana happened upon OYE. While she didn't find what she was looking for, she found just what she needed: the promise of education for her daughters. After a difficult selection process, where we were faced with choosing between bad and worse, we welcomed the sisters to OYE's growing family of scholars in 2016.

Now, two years later, we are excited to share that both sisters have graduated from high school and started university! Due to a grant from the Inter-American Foundation, the sisters are two of twenty young people who have the opportunity to receive a two-year technical degree from the University of San Pedro Sula. While the foundation covers their tuition and administrative costs, you continue to play a crucial role in their education journeys. OYE's monthly scholarship provides the means for our young scholars to travel from El Progreso to San Pedro Sula each day to go to class, and to purchase supplies and textbooks.

We are so grateful for your support and contributions to our work, but we want to ask one more - okay, two more favors from you!

1. Please consider becoming a monthly donor, if you aren't one already. Your consistency, whether it's $5 or $50 a month, truly makes a difference.
2. Please help us spread the word about our work among your friends, families and colleagues. It's as easy as forwarding this e-mail with a personal message from you on why you support OYE.

As always, thank you believing in OYE and in the importance of our work to educate, empower and engage teen girls in Honduras.

In appreciation,
Amanda

Links:

• Video: Johanny & Lastenia's Story
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• Follow us on Instagram