Support Girls Leading Change in Honduras

Hi Friends,

In our last report, we shared that over 20 girls and young women in the 5th cohort of "Girls Leading Change" had participated in an array of workshops on sexual and reproductive health, leadership, and advocacy. All in all, they completed more than 40 hours of training.

Since then, eight of these girls leaders—including Veronica, pictured above—have put their leadership into action, facillitating an abridged 10-hour training program with 40 students from 7th to 9th grades in four local schools. Upon completing the training, students and girl leaders worked together to plan school-wide educational and awareness events in their respective schools, the first of which unfolded this week. Over the course of two days, 300 students from a local school participated in a leadership and risk prevention fair focused on anti-bullying and teen pregnancy prevention, among other topics.

Let's go back to Veronica. She started participating in our youth-led communications program in 2020 and was awarded an OYE scholarship in 2022 to complete high school. Upon graduation, she decided to take a gap year to prepare for the university admissions exam, with the hopes of qualifying for a spot in the school of medicine. During this time, she has also emerged as a promising young leader in OYE and among her peers in "Girls Leading Change".

In her words: "I am not an extroverted person, but I have come out of my shell here in OYE. Because before, I didn't really talk to anyone... I used to be someone who didn't believe in my capacity to do many things, such as facilitating workshops or having the skills to use the right words when teaching others about certain topics. [Over time], I have strengthened these areas. Before, I thought leadership meant giving orders, but now I know that leadership is about coming together with others, sharing our viewpoints, and helping each other collectively."

She continues on to say: "I always encourage other young people to come to OYE because it is a place where you harness your talents. It is a place where you flourish and discover skills you might not have known that you had."

Your generosity today and everyday makes this possible. Thank you.

In appreciation,
Amanda