Educate a child;
Give hope to the world.
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COMMENTS /QUESTIONS? Please email us. These photos were taken by Kathy Adams. You can view more of her photos here. 
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Making Waves
Each time we stand up for an ideal, or act to improve the lot of others...we send forth a tiny ripple of hope...and those ripples build a current that can
sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
R. F. Kennedy
As Empowerment International enters its 8th year in the community of Villa Esperanza, a remarkable change ripples through its kids.
Take for instance, Margarita, a 21 year old, fourth year psychology student. Margarita was once an EI kid, finding her way through the odds of poverty and distractions.
Now, six years into the EI program, she is an inspiration. And not just for the other children, fifty of whom she visits twice a month for mentoring, but also for several parents, whom she counsels. Like a true psychologist-in-making, she co-ordinates appointments for children and their parents in the IXCHEN women's center, particularly if familial violence is involved.
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Margarita leading a workshop with parents to build self-esteem and effective parenting techniques.
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But that is not all. She maintains the medical program - buying tickets from EI's partner Alabama Clinic, distributing them to parents in the neighborhood, and reporting the sick children each month. She even conducts lectures in youth programs, taking up wide ranging topics like self-esteem building, HIV/AIDS and homosexuality.
Just like Margarita, we have Jeaneth, a third year hotel management student. Responsible for EI's tutoring program, she takes care of the scheduling and organizes children with their tutors. A strong manager, she oversees how well each student in the program does and tracks all the materials used for tutoring. She has also begun actively getting involved in the donor tour arrangements for EI, putting her knowledge into practice.
And then there is Anielka, the leader of our girls  cycling club. In EI forthe past 7 years, she became the first person from her family to graduate recently. Now she is studying harder; she aims to enter the best university in the country. Still, Anielka finds time to tutor primary school kids for EI's tutoring program. Focused and detail oriented, she has maintained a database of all the parents and archives for all student documents for EI. EI plans to teach her how to do home visits this year in rural community of Santa Ana.
Marluz, who is in tenth grade, monitors the
computer labs every afternoon - taking inventory of all items and ensuring all students use computers constructively. In EI for six years, she now advises her community about parental meetings and child needs. And of course, she tutors too.
During the past seven years with EI, Melki has developed strong leadership and academic skills which he is applying now more than ever.
As the leader of EI's cycling club, Melki is responsible for caring for all bike club and office bikes and he teaches bicycle mechanics to the club members.. He also plans routes for group rides, and teaches biking skills to the members. This year Melki was also honored as the top student in his class and continues to inspire other EI students to improve their academics by tutoring four days a week
 Finally, Angelo supports EI with the administration of the Tutor and Computer programs. When he's not in class studying to be a Pharmacist at the university, Angelo is in charge of programming tutorials, managing the computer lab, monitoring the students and ensuring computers are taken care of.
As youngsters gladly take up the torch that EI alighted, a growing educational commitment begins in the slums outside of Granada. Once, participating in the EI program as kids-in-need, these teens are now the wheels that make the program turn - making EI's mission a reality. What better way is there for the little ones to find their own path than to emulate the successes of these inspiring teenagers?
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