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.