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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Dear friends and kind supporters,
I am happy to report that I just recently returned from an incredibly inspiring trip to Peru where I was able to see firsthand what a truly remarkable impact Peruvian Promise is having on the lives of the girls in the program after just one year. The girls continue to grow and mature into young women and their motivation to succeed is second to none. It’s so breathtaking to see the transformation that has taken place after just one year of being in Peruvian Promise. In early July, a small celebration was held to welcome three new girls into the program. These girls are just thrilled to be part of Peruvian Promise and have expressed their heartfelt commitment to their participation in the program and their studies.
While Peruvian Promise continues to grow and welcome more girls, the young women who began university earlier this year are thriving in their new environment. With the first semester of university coming to a close this week, all of the girls are enthusiastic and motivated to continue their education. These inspirational young women have opened the door for the rest of the younger girls in Peruvian Promise and have become role models for those girls.
The Peruvian Promise group meetings continue to reinforce the important values the program teaches. The girls have recently been discussing important issues regarding the obstacles that they encounter on a day-to-day basis and how they can focus on their strengths to help them stay on track with their studies. The girls continue to grow as individuals and have at the same time created a tight bond within the group, which has acted as a wonderful support system for the girls. The girls attending university are planning to begin an ongoing service project at the Mother Teresa home in Cusco called Hogar de Las Hermanas de Calcutta.
During our visit we had the opportunity to attend a Peruvian Promise meeting, which included many parents of the girls. It was very exciting and inspiring to see the support that the parents showed for their daughter. Each of the girls enrolled in university asked their parent or parents to come up so they could be introduced to the entire group. Each parent was filled with pride for his or her daughter and the hope that she represents for their families. Although the parents cannot afford to support their daughters’ education financially, their pride in them and encouragement for them to stay focused on their educations is a powerful part of Peruvian Promise. All of the girls described how thankful they were not only for the opportunity to attend college, but to be a part of Peruvian Promise.
One of the girls attending university who we highlighted in our last update, Claudia, mentioned to me that until she was selected to participate in Peruvian Promise, she never dreamed that attending university would be a possibility. Imagine, now she attends university as the youngest student in the obstetrics department, and has a real chance to break her cycle of poverty.
In December, nine more of the Peruvian Promise scholars, are expected to graduate from secondary school. They have been studying very hard and attending a pre-university academy for three hours a day, four days a week to prepare for their college entrance exams. We are very proud of these girls for working so hard and for their continued diligence in their studies. They are extremely motivated to succeed and have been inspired by the Peruvian Promise girls who are now attending university.
We are so proud of each and every one of our girls and want to wish all of them a very successful first year in university and in secondary school. We are excited and inspired by the success the girls have had in the program’s initial year. Truthfully, it could not have happened without the kindness of our generous donors and supporters. Thank you so much for believing in Peruvian Hearts and in these young women. Without your support, Claudia, like all of the other girls, would not have this incredible opportunity to transform her life.
Please help us spread the word about these inspiring young women and the impact of Peruvian Promise. With your support we can continue to empower these deserving scholars and continue to change the world one heart at a time.
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Dear friends and kind supporters,
In February we wrote to you to tell you about 2 of the Peruvian Promise girls who had been accepted to university in Cusco. Well, it is with great pleasure to tell you that after three months of hard work and lots of studying, the 5 other girls who graduated from secondary school in December, took their college entrance exams and shortly there after found out that they had passed and been admitted to university. The 7 gradates have been admitted to 3 different universities including the National University, which is very competitive. The girls have selected different career paths that include: law, civil engineering, obstetrics, archeology, and tourism. Unlike the United States, students in Peru must decide what profession they want to study before they take their college entrance exam.
We spoke to three of the girls on the phone the day they were notified of their acceptance and they were totally elated and simply walking on air. All of the girls told us just how thankful they were not only for the opportunity to attend college, but to be a part of Peruvian Promise. One of the girls, Claudia, who is now studying obstetrics at university in Cusco, told us that before she was selected to be part of Peruvian Promise, she never thought that attending university was an option. She told us that she lived in a very small house and that that her parents never could have afforded to send her to university. The attached picture of Claudia, standing with her mother in their home, shows the true poverty that she has lived in everyday of her life. To think that now she is attending university and has a real chance to break her cycle of poverty is incredibly heart warming and inspiring.
Claudia, however, is not the only girl in Peruvian Promise that has overcome her situation and given herself a chance to succeed. In fact, each girl in Peruvian Promise comes from a very similar situation as Claudia. One thing that all of these girls have show is that adversity is not going to stand in their way of succeeding. With classes having just begun, all of the girls are enthusiastic and motivated to continue their education. We are so proud of each and every one of our girls and want to wish them a very successful first year in university. These inspirational young women have opened the door for the rest of the younger girls in Peruvian Promise and have become role models for those girls.
Since the beginning of the school year, the Peruvian Promise meetings have resumed and all of the girls, including the college girls, meet on a bi-weekly basis to reinforce the values the program teaches. The girls participate in individual and team building activities and also receive opportunities for mentorship, service, and experiential learning.
We are thrilled with the success this program has shown in its first year and want to thank you for believing in these young women. Without your support, Claudia, like all of the other girls, would not have this incredible opportunity to transform her life.
Tell a friend about the impact that Peruvian Promise is making on the lives of these girls. Let's work together to empower these deserving young women.
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