By Amanda Hall | Development Coordinator
Dear Friends,
We hope you are enjoying your summer! The heat is unbearable this time of year in El Progreso, but I imagine you are probably more interested in what's been going on with OYE this summer than the weather.
Our summer kicked off with a trip to Washington, D.C. I was accompanied by one of our youth leaders to Washington, DC, and New York City to visit foundations, key donors and exchange with other youth development organizations. This year, Keyla was the lucky one selected. Keyla is a 21 year-old law student who coordinates two groups of youth within the organization: the sports program Deportes en Accion, and an advocacy project called Let Girls Lead, which engages adolescent girls in efforts to institutionalize comprehensive sexuality education in El Progreso's public schools. But let me rewind and tell you a little bit about how Keyla got to where she is now.
Keyla first became involved in OYE back in 2012 while she was still in high school at one of El Progreso's most prestigious institutes, where she received a full scholarship to attend for her academic excellence. She began participating in OYE's programs because of her younger sister Paola, who was already an OYE scholar.
When Keyla graduated from high school with honors, she faced a dilemma that so many young people in Honduras face... How was she going to afford to go to college? While the public university is virtually free for Honduran students, the cost of the daily commute to and from San Pedro Sula, which is 20 kilometers outside of El Progreso and costs approximately $2 a day, is too much bear for many Honduran families. Furthermore, Keyla's parents separated right around the time of her graduation, putting an extra financial strain on the family.
Before resigning to work and put off her university studies until a later time, Keyla made a dedicated effort to obtain an OYE scholarship; at the time, OYE was not accepting siblings of its current scholars, a practice that we generally continue to follow, with some exceptions, in order to maximize the number of families that are impacted by our programs. But Keyla's tenacity and determination won out and she received an OYE scholarship to attend university in 2014.
Three years later, Keyla is now a 21 year-old law student set to graduate next year. She hopes to attend graduate school to specialize in human rights. But beyond being educated, Keyla is a leader, mentor and positive influence to over 60 young people in OYE, and most especially to the teen girls she meets with several times a month. To learn more about her journey, we invite you to watch this video.
Keyla is just one example of the promising young women that your donations support. She also exemplifies the reality that when you educate a woman, you educate a community.
Can you imagine what we can do together by educating and empowering 25 more girls like her?
From all of us at OYE, thank you for your belief in our work and the value of educating and empowering teen girls. We are so grateful.
Best,
Amanda
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