Educate a child;
Give hope to the world.
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DONATE To support the great work of Empowerment International, please consider making a donation. Click here to donate through Razoo. For donations made through Razoo 100% of your donation will go to Empowerment International, with no transaction fee deducted. (And good news for those who didn't like having to make a login for Razoo - We passed on this feedback and they have now changed this.) SPONSOR To learn more about the organization and how to sponsor a child, click here. FORWARD TO A FRIEND Know someone who may be interested? Click here to forward to a friend. SUBSCRIBE Were you forwarded this email? If you would like to subscribe to the mailing list, please click here. FACEBOOK Find us on Facebook! Please consider becoming a fan of our page, or joining our cause. COMMENTS/QUESTIONS? Please email us.  These photos were taken by Kathy Adams. You can view more of her photos here. This newsletter was created by volunteers Jamie McCaughey and Emma Hill.  |
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Tutoring program:
Changing attitudes, raising expectations
The tutoring program continues to be very successful. The parents are delighted that their kids are excited about learning to read and write after school instead of hanging out alone at home or in the neighborhood. Some children have learned to read and write their own name for the first time; all are learning to read and write much more than before.
As wonderful as the benefits of this program for the young students are, it may be the transformation occurring among the teenage tutors that is the greatest breakthrough. Nicaragua has a very high school dropout rate in the mid-teen ages, and EI has been working hard to find ways to keep these kids engaged in school. The tutors have grown in just a short time through the tutoring program - their self-esteem is higher, their interest in school is higher, and they are taking responsibility and making a very positive contribution.
Eduardo, 16, had been so disinterested in school and at a high risk of dropout that he was one of a very small group that EI placed in a private school. In his new environment, his attitude had begun to improve, and he then started tutoring as a way to give back. Now he is very happy every day when he meets his two regular pupils - Xavier, 8, and Pablo, 11. He says
"I like sharing what I know with the kids. They couldn't read at first, but now they are reading short sentences, and I feel very good about that."
Eduardo is modest about the changes that he has gone through in the past few months, but he has changed from one of the most at-risk students in the EI program to one of the most engaged and enthusiastic students.
The teenagers meet regularly as a support group, one of the ways that EI works to keep those most at risk of dropout engaged in school. They have been discussing all that they have learned as tutors
- from changing attitudes -
"Now I can understand our teachers and understand the value of education."
- to setting an example for others -
"Now I understand that sometimes it isn't easy to teach us, and I will behave better in school!"
When the teenage tutors are in school, their teachers report that they are doing much better with their studies, and are much more confident. It is such a success for the teenagers - it could indeed be that those who give the most, gain the most.
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Photo exhibitions, a speaking tour
... and some bizarre food
In other news, Kathy Adams (founder and director of EI) has had a busy month promoting the work of Empowerment International through a fund-raising and speaking tour across the US and Canada.
Examples of a few of the events:
In Leesburg, Virginia, Kathy gave a slide-show presentation to the Loudoun chapter of Zonta. The presentation was focused on the benefits of the EI program to girls in the community (Zonta is an international organization dedicated to advancing the status of women worldwide through service and advocacy). Marina Amat, one of the Zonta of Loudoun members, commented
"Our Zonta Club was moved by Kathy's gentle manner yet steely determination in making a change in the lives of poor, young people."
In Longmont, Colorado, people enjoyed a photo exhibit from the EI photography program students. The students themselves joined the event virtually
via skype (an internet-based videoconference program) and they did great!
In Toronto, Canada, Kathy showed her own photos showing life in the barrio at the Spirit of Hope photo exhibit. Her photos were shown alongside those of Jonathan Hung, a photographer with Nicaragua Hope, an organization working in poor areas on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast.
And in Boulder, Colorado, Kathy teamed up with Joshua Berman (one of the authors of the
Moon guidebook for Nicaragua) to host a premier event for a Food Network Bizarre Foods
program (hosted by Andrew Zimmern) featuring some of the more unusual foods in Nicaragua (here's a link for the trailer). Joshua and Andrew visited the EI program during filming of the program - here's a link for an article about their visit. Kathy
also talked about the EI program during the evening and showed work from the photography
program. Thanks to everyone who attended - the event raised a fantastic $1400 for EI!
Rosa, one of the EI participants, at the bizarre foods dinner hosted by Andrew Zimmern in Granada.
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