![]()
Ernesto is a sixteen year old PathLight student who lives with his father, mother, three brothers and one sister. His father is a farmer and works everyday to grow corn, beans and other seasonal crops to sell in a local village. Ernesto's mother stays at home to take care of the family and Ernesto's younger siblings. Ernesto is grateful for PathLight since he would not have been able to attend high school without the Sponsorship+ program. Ernesto's father only makes enough for the family to get by.
Since graduating from high school, Ernesto plans to attend a vocational school so that he can have a better chance at a job in the tourism industry. But with the tremendous amount of competition for tourism jobs in Belize, Ernesto needs all the help he can get as he seeks to break into this new career. And English proficiency is absolutely vital for anyone trying to enter the tourism industry.
A multiday English-proficiency training called "Rising Stars Workshop" (read about it below) was held recently to improve student's English communication skills since for most of our students English is a second (or third) language. In the workshop they learned to write proper English, write poems, participated in skits and dance. Ernesto did extremely well and his mentor saw his confidence rise significantly.
After the workshop Ernesto said, "I learnt a lot! I learned how to write a very good essay, how to perform skits using English and the workshop built my self confidence in many ways."
Thank you again for joining us in providing job skills to children in rural Belize!
Since you helped us start this program in June, we've begun developing a curriculum to help students be better prepared not only as future employees and employers but personally too. We're building character formation into the curriculum along with vocational "hard skills." We think this year-long curriculum is going to propel these young people forward in amazing ways.
One key aspect of this new job training curriculum is bringing in local business leaders as guest speakers to help us with trainings and interactive workshops. For example, an executive from a local company is coming to talk with our students about what she looks for in a successful employee and how to add value to a company's operations. This is something very few young people have the opportunity to learn. She will also share with the students her experience of over 15 years in the banking industry and what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur in Belize. We're planning to have many more business rock stars inspire our kids thorughout the year.
We've also been meeting with business owners in numerous local industries about internship possibilities for our students. Additionally, we're exploring a partnership with our local Youth Enhancement Services (YES) to talk about other employment opportunities for our students (YES helps students find employment and also hosts workshops and even seek ways of finding grants for youth projects).
Something else we've been excited about is the "Rising Stars Workshop" held last month. This workshop was a very hands-on training that taught students how to speak English more professionally, how to express themselves in front of an audience (public speaking) and gain confidence in using English in numerous situations. The students loved it because they were able to learn through writing poems, performing skits and giving speeches - and their confidence skyrocketed! You can watch a video from the workshop on our homepage here.
Thank you again for your generous support to help these promising young people get the tools they need to gain good jobs. We're excited to see these young people grow and thrive!
PathLight International
![]()
![Share on Twitter]()
![Share on Facebook]()
