It is celebration time at the tiny house of Margarita Arroliga. This teenager has become the first person in her family to enter college - a feat all the more remarkable given that she had almost abandoned her studies last year. The tragic demise of her father had her discouraged and the dire financial status was already straining her young nerves. It is at this time that the home visits by EI team motivated her to rise above difficulties. 

Thanks to the constant encouragement from the team, not only did she rejoin university but also started interning at EI and participating in the home visits herself!

The home visits carried out by EI team aim to ensure that children attend school and improve their educational process. The person in charge of the visits reviews their workbooks in order to verify that they are using the material EI provides. Other aspects checked are the use of their backpacks and uniforms, their personal hygiene, as well as any health issues.  

These home visits offer the EI staff the opportunity to not only monitor the children's progress but also mentor the parents so that they learn to value their children's education. No matter what their education levels, the parents are encouraged to become involved in their children's education and are taught ways to provide positive and productive feedback to their kids.

Parents learn to make choices that allow their children to work for a bright tomorrow ( by going to school) instead of working just for today (by working on the streets or in the home). The goal is to encourage them to assist their own children so that one day they can take over the role that EI has been playing in their kids' education.

Though the staff involved in the process is small, the enthusiasm for change is huge. There is a well defined procedure for home visits that enables the team to achieve definite objectives. Each of the 4 people in the office is responsible for a specific number of families. At the beginning of the year, each is assigned 26 to 28 families.

At the beginning of every month, each person in the team gets a schedule of the visits to be carried out. This schedule shows the exact dates of the visits during the month, and the name of the family to be visited. In other words, each individual has his or her monthly schedule already assigned. The staff then visits the homes throughout the neighborhood 3 or 4 days a week as a minimum, and each family is visited 3 or 4, times monthly.

The children who need motivation, closer monitoring, and more support from EI are visited by the team almost 4 times a month. The home visits personnel establishes a bond of trust with the parents so that they all get together to help the children continue their educational process. Although this process is slow, the results are visible, and the parents acknowledge those efforts with enthusiasm.

The children's feedback is one of kindness and love; they show their school backpacks, and talk about how they are doing at the school. The more the team visits the parents and the children, the more they gain their trust, and their positive attitude.

The home visits last for 20 to 30 minutes with each family. In families where there are more than 4 children, the duration of visit may extend to 45 minutes. In certain cases, the visit could be up to 2 hours with just one child, especially when she is a teenager with many problems.

For the teenagers, life becomes doubly hectic because they often are the chief bread earners of their family and also have to continue their education. They get tired of working and studying at the same time and choose to drop out of schools. In such cases, the EI team discusses the scenario with the parents and students and keeps up a closer monitoring, on a weekly basis. The talk centers around the importance of education and the home visits people inspire them, often through their own example.

Says Anielka, the program director at Nicaragua, "We are aware that not everything has advanced 100%; we still have children facing difficulties. Seeing each kid make a little bit more of progress every day is our daily, ongoing challenge and changes can be slow."

In reality, the changes are immense. The parents are more involved and more concerned about sending their children to school every day. More significantly, each child being mentored is inspired to follow in the footsteps of her mentor to become a home visit coach one day. There is a tremendous will to succeed and home visits - now in the third year - have changed perceptions and lives dramatically.