TABLE OF CONTENTS Who We Are.........................................................................................7 Scholarship Program...........................................................................8 Capacity-Building and Leadership Program.................................9 Art Program.......................................................................................10 Magazine Program............................................................................11 Radio Program...................................................................................12 Graphic Design Program..................................................................13 Sports Program..................................................................................14 Volunteers..........................................................................................15 Special Events....................................................................................16 Institutional Strengthening.............................................................18 Financial Report...............................................................................19

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 2013 was a year marked by important changes and challenges, both within OYE and externally in the city of El Progreso and Honduras. OYE experienced significant change in its administrative and operative structure, emergence of new leadership, institutional growth and greater projection and exposure to others, all without losing the original spirit upon which OYE was founded. Members of OYE’s board and staff established a more precise direction for future growth and envisioned the significant changes we hope our youth scholars and leaders will achieve. In Honduras, this was a particularly difficult year considering the multi-party electoral process, weak public finances and the enduring deterioration of society due to an increase in violence, unemployment and poverty, where youth are the principal group affected. However, amongst this somber panorama, OYE carried out its mission, continuing with its programs to empower the youth of El Progreso and providing them with the training and capacity to foment positive changes in their communities. OYE wishes to thank all new and current donors, collaborators and volunteers that have supported its activities throughout the year and have placed trust in our organization that works to support Honduran youth. We are counting on your support for the new challenges we will face in 2014. The following report is a compilation of the most relevant events and activities carried out by the youth leaders and scholars of our organization as well as the impact that OYE’s distinct programs have on each one of their lives, their families and the rest of El Progreso’s youth.

María de los Ángeles Mejía Executive Director

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF María de los Ángeles Mejía Executive Director Dunia Perdomo Programs and Projects Coordinator Samuel Rioux Development Coordinator Carlos Galeas Accountant

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Patricia Ahern Ana Luisa Ahern Justin Eldridge-Otero Francisca Holland Matthew Trybus Sam Vigersky Patriece Nelson Melisa Aguayo Chelsea Friauf-Evans Miguel López Walter Molinari

History

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he Organization for Youth Empowerment, known simply as OYE in Honduras, was founded in 2005 by Ana Luisa Ahern and Justin Eldridge-Otero, inspired by a vision of a society where youth have a powerful voice and the knowledge and resources to use that voice to create positive change in their lives and their communities.

WHO WE ARE llenges facing Honduran youth. Based on this knowledge and their shared desire to help Honduran youth, they designed a program to empower young, at-risk youth and provide them what their families were unable to provide them: an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty through education.

As a critical first step, they created a scholarship program to provide After various years of volunteering youth access to higher education during their adolescent years with which they otherwise would have the youth of El Progreso, specifica- been denied due to economic bally the children of the COPPROME rriers. However, they rapidly reaorphanage, the two North Ameri- lized that access to a formal educans came to understand the cha- cation was only the beginning and

began to develop an integrated leadership curriculum that is now divided into four distinct programs: the Scholarship Program, the CapacityBuilding and Leadership Program, the Community Engagement Projects and Institutional Strengthening Program. OYE obtained 501(c)(3) status in the District of Columbia in 2005, but was not legally recognized in Honduras until 2012. The Board of Directors includes experienced professionals with a passion for youth development and empowerment from the United States and Honduras.

Mission

Form socially conscious youth leaders through community action programs to break the cycle of poverty.

Vision

A society where youth are key actors in the positive development of Honduras.

Values

Commitment | Solidarity | Leadership | Respect | Tolerance

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SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

t the beginning of 2013, through a selection process of new scholarship recipients and the renewal of scholarships of existing beneficiaries, OYE awarded 70 high school and university scholarships for the 2013 school year. The academic scholarship consists of a monthly stipend of approximately $50 USD over a period of 10 months, which can be used to cover a portion of education-related expenses.

This year there was a concerted effort to achieve greater parental involvement in OYE activities with the objective of sharing OYE’s mission with its beneficiaries’ families and showing off the fruits of the community engagement projects in which they participate. Furthermore, many parents participated in two workshops facilitated by OYE throughout the year and a year-end fundraising activity to celebrate Christmas.

In addition to coming from low-income households, OYE’s scholars are distinguished by their academic excellence and by their leadership potential. In September, OYE staff visited various educational institutions where its beneficiaries attend to determine how they compare to their peers in both academic achievement and behavior. The visits proved that OYE’s youth are characterized by their teachers and school administrators as exemplary students and they stand out because of their artistic talents both in and out of the classroom.

As the first of OYE’s programs, in existence since its foundation in 2005, the scholarship program has developed and changed throughout the years. In 2013, the scholarship program went under a restructuring and strengthening process in regards to the selection and evaluation of scholarship recipients.

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CAPACITY-BUILDING

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AND LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

ith the objective of forming socially conscious youth leaders who are agents of positive change in their communities and country, all of OYE’s beneficiaries participate in a series of capacity-building and leadership workshops throughout the year. This year, the scholars were divided into three groups (I, II and III) according to their age and academic level to guarantee that the topics and themes presented appropria-

tely matched the characteristics and experts, OYE’s staff and OYE’s unineeds of each youth. versity scholars who have advanced through the program. Starting in March, a total of 20 workshops between the three groups As of this year, a series of online evawere held, focusing on the topics of luations was implemented as a new self-esteem, values, physical and methodology to measure the impact mental health, employability, re- of the program and the beneficiaproductive sexual health and na- ries’ comprehension of the presentional reality, among many others. ted topics. In the evaluations, the From 10 to 16 youth participated beneficiaries were expected to anin each workshop, which were faci- swer basic questions and share their litated by invited professionals and perspective on the respective topic.

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ART PROGRAM

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rte La Calle, the art project, creates a space where youth can communicate and express their reality through various types of art and convey messages that resonate with urban Honduran youth. In 2013, the project concentrated its efforts and resources in affording its 20+ active participants with practical workshops facilitated by art professionals and teachers on a variety of artistic techniques and media, including paper, canvas, walls, glass and recycled materials, among others. After participating in the workshops, the art participants practiced the acquired techni-

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ques to create art pieces to exhibit and sell. This year, the art project held five expositions to show and sell their works in various locales in El Progreso and nearby San Pedro Sula. Furthermore, they painted a total of five community murals throughout the year, four in distinct schools in El Progreso and its surrounding area and one at a health center in San Pedro Sula. Three of the murals were accomplished in collaboration with international university volunteers.

MAGAZINE PROGRAM

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evista Jóvenes, the magazine project, promotes the written word as a means for youth to communicate their views on topics of interest and engage with and capture the attention of their peers through their youth-centered, youth-created magazine. In 2013, the participants attended a variety of workshops on writing, composition, photography, graphic design and marketing, among others. Throughout the year, the magazine project designed, printed and distributed five bi-monthly editions of the magazine. Each edition included articles written and diagrammed by youth on topics of local and natio-

nal news, Honduran culture, health, etc. Furthermore, they realized their first essay competition, publicized at various local high schools, on the topic of youth apathy towards politics, an especially relevant topic given the presidential elections the following month. In previous years, the magazine was designed and printed externally. This year, three of the magazine participants took a course on graphic design and use of Adobe’s program InDesign, initiating a new chapter for Revista Jóvenes mid-year. For the first time, the entire magazine production process, from its initial planning to its final printing, was realized in-house.

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adio Ritmo Online, the radio project, creates a space for youth to explore and express the reality in which they live and the issues that affect them, such as gender equality, the environment, unemployment and education. The participants acquire knowledge and experience in the various aspects of radio production, including speech, recording and use of software and equipment through various workshops facilitated by local radio professionals. In the early months of 2013, the radio youth coordinator led workshops on the rights of and laws protecting Honduran youth, radio forums, documentary investigation and speech. In addition, a local ra-

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RADIO PROGRAM dio professional led a workshop on tournament and providing music radio production. and radio coverage at community celebrations on national holidays, Throughout the year, Radio Ritmo such as Lempira Day and Children’s Online executed two radio forums Day. The youth coordinator comon the right for youth to receive pleted a 2-month internship at local sexual health education and the radio station Radio Progreso. other on unemployment, respectively called “What We Live” and “Youth Unemployment.” The radio forum panels were comprised of high school and university students alongside young professionals and were attended by over 250 local youth.

Furthermore, they provided sound support to other projects at various events, serving as sports announcers for the annual Copa OYE soccer

GRAPHIC DESIGN PROGRAM

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he graphic design program, based upon the Adobe Foundation’s international program Adobe Youth Voices, gives youth the opportunity to express their ideas and perspectives through photography and video and gain knowledge in multimedia production. Using Adobe’s photo and video-editing software, the participants learn how to transform original photographs and raw video footage into multimedia pieces.

various excursions with local youth from the Proniño Foundation to take photographs and videos on a variety of subject matters. With the support of international volunteer Dylan Cassidy, they created a video to commemorate OYE’s 8th anniversary and a humorous video on youth unemployment. The latter premiered during Radio Ritmo Online’s radio forum on the same topic.

del Ulua, to expand the project’s impact outside of OYE. Two international volunteers, with the support of the project’s youth coordinator, taught three 10-week basic photography and video-editing classes to approximately 35 students at the high school. Furthermore, volunteer Alex Clark-Youngblood, a licensed teacher in the U.S., developed a formal curriculum for future photography classes in 2014, to be led exclusively by the project’s An alliance was established with youth coordinator and participants. In the early months of 2013, the one of El Progreso’s largest public graphic design program realized high schools, Instituto Oficial Perla

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SPORTS PROGRAM

he sports program, Deportes, promotes participation in sports and physical activities as a way to prevent youth violence and at the same time encourage physical health and teamwork. In previous years, this project was exclusively focused on the preparation and execution of Copa OYE, an annual soccer tournament started in 2008 involving hundreds of youth each year from El Progreso and surrounding communities. During the months of April through

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June, the sports participants and local youth trained and prepared for the annual soccer tournament, specifically in general fitness, theory and technical foundations. At the conclusion of the training sessions, they participated in a friendly soccer game in celebration of OYE’s 8th anniversary. Copa OYE took place in the final weeks of July with the participation of over 250 youth divided into 23 teams, 15 male and 8 female.

In 2013, the annual soccer tournament was converted into a formalized and multidisciplinary sports program. In addition to organizing and training for Copa OYE, the sports project established an alliance with the municipal gym and participated in various volleyball workshops.

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n 2013, OYE hosted two university volunteer groups from the United States, hailing from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh and Eastern Mennonite University (EMU). Throughout the week, the volunteers participated in a variety of educational, cultural and community service activities with a focus on promoting cultural and linguistic exchange between the volunteers, OYE’s youth and the community. Like all volunteer groups before them, both volunteer groups collaborated with OYE’s art project, Arte La Calle, to

VOLUNTEERS

paint murals in El Progreso. The UW Oshkosh volunteers dedicated the entire week to painting mural depicting core values at a local elementary school, while the EMU volunteers painted an environmental-themed mural as a part of a larger environmental awareness and education campaign at a local elementary school. In addition to the volunteer groups, OYE welcomed three longterm volunteers throughout the year: Christina Ramírez, a social work student; Dylan Cassidy, a

film and photography student; and Alex Clark-Youngblood, a licensed teacher and Global Playgrounds Fellow, who divided his time between OYE and another local NGO. They shared their knowledge and talents to support OYE in a variety of ways, including: carrying out a socio-economic study of our beneficiaries’ families, instructing a photography course at a local high school, developing curriculum for our new graphic design program and collaborating with our youth to paint a mural at a local high school, among other activities.

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SPECIAL EVENTS VISIT OF U.S. AMBASSADOR

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t the end of March, OYE received a visit from U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Lisa Kubiske, who showed her interest in OYE’s work and learned of the different activities and programs OYE provides for Honduran youth. Participants in the youth magazine project took advantage of this opportunity to interview her, asking about her perspective on Honduran national reality and other youth projects supported by the U.S. Embassy in Honduras.

OYE’s 8TH ANNIVERSARY

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ach 5th of June, OYE celebrates its anniversary. This year, we celebrated our anniversary over the course of three days and various activities, including:

qOpen house, tours of OYE qArt exhibition qArtistic and musical presentations qFlash mob (dance) qSoccer game As in past years, the activities were planned and executed with the objective of spreading the word of OYE’s work to the El Progreso community and expressing the reality in which Honduran youth live, focusing on not only the challenges they face but also the great hope they represent for the positive development of Honduras.

HONDURAS 4 OYE

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ince 2012, OYE has benefited from a corporate alliance with KM2 Solutions, an international call center with a branch in San Pedro Sula, who selected OYE as the beneficiary of their Corporate Social Responsibility Program “KM2 Cares.” In our first fundraising event in Honduras, OYE and KM2 Solutions collaborated to organize and execute an event called “Honduras 4 OYE,” which took place at Altia Business Park in San Pedro Sula and raised $6000 USD for OYE’s programs. $2000 USD was raised through four corporate donations from Dermalaser, UNITEC, Cargill and Grupo Karim; $1000 USD through an iPad raffle; and $3000 USD in matching funds from the Seattle International Foundation, presented by Executive Director Mauricio Vivero.

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INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING

n 2013, OYE experienced a significant transition in leadership, bringing on a new Executive Director and Programs and Projects Coordinator. The new Programs and Projects Coordinator was one of OYE’s first scholarship recipients in 2005 and is a significant testament to the positive impact of OYE’s programs. OYE did not only welcome two new members to the administrative team, but also two local Hondurans to the Board of Directors, who supported OYE in fundraising initiatives, activities promotion and the selection process of new scholars for 2014.

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In the final months of 2013, the administrative team, selected scholars and the Board of Directors, comprised of both local and international members, collaborated in the creation of a 5-year strategic plan for OYE, carrying out an internal and external context analysis of OYE; revising OYE’s mission, vision and values; carrying out a SWAT analysis; and formulating strategic, measurable and reachable objectives regarding the impact OYE hopes to achieve in both the short and long-term with the youth of El Progreso, including both direct and indirect beneficiaries.

FINANCIAL REPORT In 2013, 92% of OYE’s funds came from the United States through individual donations, corporate donations and grants from foundations. Four U.S. foundations provided significant financial support through both restricted and unrestricted grants, specifically: the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), the Seattle International Foundation (SIF), the Public Welfare Foundation (PWF) and the Adobe Foundation. The remaining 8% of funds came from Honduras, specifically through institutional and youth-led fundraising initiatives, sale of artwork and merchandise and local individual and corporate donations. OYE’s expenses totaled $121,000 USD. The unrestricted funds spent totaled $95,000 USD, divided between administrative and operational expenses. The restricted funds spent, granted by by the Inter-American Foundation as part of a three-year $127,000 grant, totaled $26,000 USD, divided between administrative expenses and project expenses for OYE’s art, radio and magazine community action programs.

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Organization for Youth Empowerment OYE Adelante Jóvenes Eco Pasaje Centenario, El Progreso, Yoro, Honduras, C.A. ​+​ 504 2647​ ​0682 ​[email protected] ​www.​oyehonduras.org