November 19, 2014
This past weekend, a phenomenal event occurred for the Yo Puedo (I Am Able) girls. Yo Puedo is a peer empowerment program for girls in the fifth and sixth grade. In peer reinforced education, they are empowered to learn skills, become responsible, grow in self esteem, and start small businesses that they themselves manage and operate.
On Saturday, November 15 through Sunday, November 16, eleven girls, representatives from the twelve Yo Puedo sites from the many towns and villages of the Intibucá frontier region, came together for their second annual retreat at the Santa Lucia Clinic. Grateful for the support of teachers, parents and administrative personal from Shoulder to Shoulder, the girls celebrated successes of the past year and looked forward to new events for this coming one.
The girls received permission from their parents. A hired car drove across the frontier region, collecting girls from the various schools. They were ecstatic to see the car, confirming the reality of the retreat. Arriving in Santa Lucia Clinic around midday, the girls ran desperately to reserve their beds, covering them with personal items. A few minutes to rest, then onto lunch.
After lunch, the activities commenced. The girls introduced themselves and participated in several activities, each with its own special lesson. The “Birthday Line,” for example, had the girls line up according to their birthdays. Without using any words, this was comical, but it also demonstrated the importance of non-verbal communication and teamwork. For the activity “Treasure Bag,” two groups were given a bag including paper, crayons and markers, masking tape, scissors, with other items, and were asked to create something meaningful. They organized themselves around the project, demonstrated flourishing creativity, and recognized that each girl had a specific, critical role to play in the process.
Near the end of the retreat, a few videos on self-esteem and goal setting fueled discussion about the girls’ short and long-term goals. The success of the retreat was evidenced by how well the girls came together and found their voice.
Minsis Ramos Diaz, Coordinator for Yo Puedo, is grateful to the generous hearts of sponsors. The unconditional support is truly what our young people need. The girls are taking to heart the power of the simple phrase, “I Am Able.”
Hope and Pride
November 16, 2014
No one from my family had ever been to college. My dad was a truck driver who never finished high school. I recall vividly my father’s beaming expression, a mixture of hope and pride, the day he dropped me off at the University of Massachusetts. Yesterday, I sat in on the parents meeting at the Bilingual School of the Good Shepherd in Camasca, Intibucá. As I looked out upon those attending I experienced that eerie sense of déjà vu. Thirty-six years later, it was my father looking back at me with that same expression of hope and pride.
How different are the families here in Honduras, yet one thing is certainly universal. Parents want so much more for their children than they themselves obtained. Education, a quality education, is the key element to realize that goal. Education, a quality education, is simply not accessible to the great majority of Honduran families. Why hope, if hope yields disappointment? Perhaps it is better to take pride in more modest achievements. This must be the thoughts of most families raising children in Honduras. Those thoughts seem to be changing in the frontier region of Intibucá.
In 2012, Shoulder to Shoulder, the community of the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Cincinnati, and the families of the frontier region of Intibucá dared to dream of a financially accessable, quality, bilingual school. The classrooms were designed and erected and today it is a reality with fifty-four students in kindergarten, first and second grade. It is a public school, available to everyone.
Public education has been a disaster in Honduras. There simply aren’t the resources. The buildings are not maintained, materials are non-existent, the teachers are minimally qualified, and the list goes on. Maybe Honduras needs to think about a new model. What about a partnership among the Department of Education, a committed NGO like Shoulder to Shoulder, the surrounding municipalities, and the parents themselves? There you have it, the Good Shepherd Bilingual School. This model school is a first in Honduras. There are a great many challenges that face the parents and partners of this endeavor. But it is only with great risk that great reward can be achieved.
Attorneys Plutarco Rivera and his wife Patricia Maria Sikaffy, were present at the meeting to present the proposed agreement for the foundation of the model, bilingual, public school. Attorney Rivera exhorted those present that if this “experiment” is to have success, it will be dependent upon the dedicated involvement of the parents as represented in their committee. In those expressions of hope and pride, another emotion was palpably present. These parents are determined; determined that their children will have an education that will place them on the path of success and fulfillment. In a few weeks on this website, there will be opportunity to support the parents’ determination by financially sponsoring one of their children. It will be a tremendous opportunity to ally ourselves with a phenomenal moment of transformation.
May these expressions of hope and pride be the force that yields enrichment!
Communication and Development
November 1, 2014
Laura and Paul Manship are pleased to begin their new position as Director of Communications and Development for Shoulder to Shoulder. They have been in Honduras since September of 2013 and have volunteered at two NGOs. They began at Montaña de Luz en Morecelí, El Paraiso. Montaña de Luz is a home for children who are infected or affected with HIV. Over the last few months they have lived in La Esperanza, Intibucá, volunteering their time and talent at Maestro en Casa, a long-distance learning program for secondary education. As of November 1, 2014, they will begin their service to Shoulder to Shoulder, living in La Concepción.
Shoulder to Shoulder is doing such incredible things in the Frontier region of Intibucá, and, for Laura and Paul, it will be a privilege and an honor to highlight and promote such important work. The ongoing, primary health and dental care, the public health work, the preventive care instruction, the brigade work, the education programs, the nutritional programs, and clean water programs are all part of an empowerment model of service that will richly enhance people´s lives. The transformative stories cry out to be told and celebrated.
Both Laura and Paul are licensed professional Social Workers in the state of Massachusetts where they lived before coming to Honduras. Their background and experience is unique and diverse. Laura is also a MBA and last worked in a Community Health Center in Holyoke, MA as Director of Operations and Behavioral Health Services. Paul was a Roman Catholic priest for seventeen years working with the Latino community of Western MA before voluntarily leaving active ministry in 2005 and marrying Laura in 2006. Since then and prior to moving to Honduras, he was a supervisor for Elder Protective Services.
Laura´s two children, Emma and Greg, have both begun their professional careers. The empty nest gave Paul and Laura the inspiration to follow their dreams, selling house and belongings and moving to Honduras. They are excited to begin working shoulder to shoulder in community to create and operate sustainable health, nutrition, and education services with equitable access for everyone.