By Lauren Thorn | Online Marketing Specialist
In December, the inaugural class graduated from Emprendedora Technical High School in Nicaragua, a country where more than 48% of children never reach the sixth grade. Founded in 2012, the high school is part of Opportunity International’s Community Economic Development (CED) strategy to build on the local assets in a community to grow the local economy through the development of small and medium enterprises. Opportunity’s initiatives in Nicaragua are based on self-identified community needs, and we then partner with the community to help them achieve their goals whether it’s building a school, repairing a church, creating new roads, or ensuring clean water through a new aqueduct system.
The school was founded with just two classrooms and 60 students with the hope that it would help lift an entire community out of poverty. This year, the Emprendedora High School reached full capacity with 300 students in grades 7 through 11. It’s one of the only schools accredited by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education (MINED) and the Technology National Institute (INATEC) which enables students to receive a technical degree in sustainable tourism or agriculture in addition to their high school diploma. The school is also accredited by Agriculture Best Practices (BPA) which promotes sustainable agriculture. The school has helped transform the entire community and runs several small agricultural and tourism businesses to give students real-world experience selling goods and services to cover the school’s operational costs.
One member of the class of 2016 is Roger. Four years ago, Roger had been expelled from a nearby school and without access to education he was destined to be trapped in poverty. Roger’s mother asked Opportunity to enroll him in the technical school and against all odds, Roger thrived; he was elected class president by his peers and graduated. During his studies at Emprendedora, he discovered he had a talent and passion for sales and hopes to start a business to raise and sell sheep.
Roger, is a reminder that talent is universal, but opportunity is not, and through your support, Opportunity will give more students like him the opportunity to succeed.
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