The school year in Peru is now well underway having started in March and most of the girls in Peruvian Promise have started their classes. There are currently five young women beginning their second year of college, three girls who just started their first year of their post-secondary education, and five other girls who are studying for their university entrance exam, which they will take in August. Maribel, one of the girls who graduated from secondary school last December, was recently accepted into the very competitive national university in Cusco to study accounting. We are incredibly proud of how hard Maribel has worked and want to wish her and all of the other girls a wonderful school year.
For the first two weeks of March, 15 of the girls in Peruvian Promise participated in the first annual Peruvian Promise in Action Leadership Institute. The institute was comprised of an intensive two-week leadership course taught by local female university professors followed by a six-week activism track in which three groups of girls created and implemented community service projects. The two-week curriculum examined important themes around leadership, culture, and self-awareness and the girls also read specific case studies about local health issues and the positive effects of clean water and clean cook stoves.
The girls were incredibly involved during the entire institute and were incredibly thankful for the opportunity to attend the institute. They found the topics and discussions to be very interesting and informative and mentioned that they had never before studied or learned anything like it in school. After the two-weeks of courses were over, the girls brainstormed and presented their ideas for community service projects and spent the next six weeks implementing these projects in indigenous communities with the help of a local female mentor. The three groups of girls visited different local communities and did research and assessments as to the best way to implement their projects. The girls really took the lead on their service projects and showed great leadership as they brought dozens of clean water filters to a very needy families, built 18 clean cook stoves, and hosted a presentation on leadership to a large group of primary school students in Cusco. The girls will continue to work with one of the professors from the institute on a regular basis to reinforce the important issues and topics discussed and to help the girls retain what they learned. This institute proved to be incredibly beneficial to the girls and will now be held annually during the girls’ summer vacation.
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Dear wonderful friends and kindhearted supporters,
2012 was truly an exciting and memorable year for the young women in Peruvian Promise! All of the girls send their kindest regards and greatest appreciation for your loyal and ongoing support. These young women continue to grow stronger as a group and also as individuals with each passing month. They all continue to learn and develop the necessary skills they will need to succeed with their education and break the cycle of poverty from which they have come.
In December of 2012, nine more Peruvian Promise scholars graduated from secondary school. Seven of these nine recent graduates are currently enrolled in pre-university academies to study for their university entrance exams. These seven girls will take their entrance exams during the month of March and if accepted, will begin classes at different universities in April. One of the recent graduates plans to attend a culinary institute and another of the graduates will attend a technical institute to work with heavy machinery. Each of these inspiring young women is the first member of her family to graduate from secondary school and continue on with her education. We are so proud of the level of dedication that these girls have shown to their studies. They have worked so hard to get to this point and each one is so thrilled and excited to have the opportunity to continue their education.
Also this past December, six of the young Peruvian Promise scholars who were already enrolled in university, successfully finished their first year! These girls, who at one point never even dreamed of obtaining a post-secondary education and having a career to strive for, are now well on their way to becoming professionals with a bright future. These girls are eagerly awaiting to start their second year of classes in April.
Words cannot express our sincere thanks and gratitude toward our incredibly generous supporters. It is because of your thoughtfulness and loyalty that, through the power of education, these girls have a real chance to break their own cycle of poverty. Your continued faith and support for each one of these young women, helps encourage and reassure them that a brighter future awaits, as they devote so much of their time and efforts each day toward furthering their education.
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Dear wonderful friends and kindhearted supporters,
The girls in Peruvian Promise send their kindest regards and appreciation to all of you for your loyal and ongoing support. The young women enrolled in Peruvian Promise continue to grow stronger as a group and also as individuals. With each passing month the girls continue to learn and develop the necessary skills they will need to succeed with their education and break the cycle of poverty from which all of them have come. The three latest girls who were recently welcomed into the Peruvian Promise family have expressed their sincere gratitude for the opportunity to be part of Peruvian Promise and for having been selected to be part of such an inspiring group of young women.
While the newest girls in the program are relishing the opportunities that Peruvian Promise provides them, there is a group of young women in secondary school who are very busy getting ready to finish their last year of secondary school. In preparation for their secondary school graduation, these nine young women have been studying incredibly hard to get ready for their college entrance exams. In addition to their regular classwork, these girls have been enrolled in a special pre-university academy to better prepare them for their college entrance exams. In December, once the school year is complete, these girls will take their college entrance exam in the hope of continuing on with their education. Each of these girls will be the first one in their families to go to school beyond the secondary school level. We are so proud of the level of dedication that these girls have shown. They have worked so hard to get to this point and each one of them is so excited to have the opportunity to continue on with their education.
In addition to the group of girls who will graduate from secondary school in December, the young women who are already enrolled in university in Cusco continue to grow and adjust to the demands of college life. These girls are now well into the second semester of their first year and continue to learn the important responsibility of time management and maintaining a solid work ethic with their tough course loads. This vital life skill does not come easily to everyone and is something that each of these girls has worked hard to develop and learn throughout the past six months. As these young women progress through college over the next few years, they will continue to hone and improve this essential life skill and they will also be able to help the younger Peruvian Promise scholars as they begin university and find themselves in similar situations.
All of the young women in Peruvian Promise continue to show dedication and devotion to their studies, and it is because of their can-do attitude that these future leaders will succeed and be able to accomplish anything they want. We remain so very proud of all of these young women and look forward to their inspirational stories of success as they continue to uplift and empower themselves.
Thank you once again to our incredibly generous supporters. It is because of your thoughtfulness and ongoing support, that through the power of education these girls have a real chance to break their own cycle of poverty.
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