• We have a new scholarship recipient from El Sauce, Nicaragua! Her name is Elizabeth Espinoza Torrez. She is entering her third year of secondary school, and she was so excited when we informed her that she was chosen for a scholarship that she actually squealed. I’m not sure we’ve ever had that reaction before! Please read more about Elizabeth on her page.
• Tatiana and Alondra: Our sixth grade girls are now entering secondary school! Please see their pages for photos of their promocion; it was a super fun day!
• Teresa: She’s been part of a dance troupe that has won numerous awards in the state, and we were able to see her perform with her troupe at a dance gala. Please check out her page for photos; it was really fun (and very loud)!

Elizabeth proudly showing off her artwork in her room (click to enlarge)

Tatiana, Alondra, and Sua’s younger sister Zilpa at their 6th grade promocion (click to enlarge)

Teresa performing in a traditional dance number (click to enlarge)

• We are sad to say that we will no longer be supporting Klaudina in Honduras for her last year of secondary school. Klaudina appears to have lost interest in complying with the very few rules that we have set for our scholarship recipients, and both the board and our contact Lidia have decided that it is time for her to develop her character as well as her scholarship. We will miss her, but we know we have helped her get a good start in life, and that she will do well, once she gets over being a teenager!
• Jenifer Anselm, Jenifer Joseph, and Winnifrida Leonard in Tanzania are doing so well! they’ve all passed their national exams to enter Form 1 (their first year of secondary school, roughly 8th grade for the U.S.). They will be attending boarding schools. In addition, Husna has passed her Form 4 exams and enters her last two years of secondary school – a great accomplishment! Please check out their pages to read some letters they sent us.
• Our website has had some changes. Nothing major, but our map on the home page has a new look, and we have added Our Graduates as a sub-page under “Our Students.” That is the best thing we could ever have hoped for: the chance to highlight girls who have graduated from high school under our program! Please check it out; in addition to Karina, we added another student who used to be with us, but left school before graduating. We’ll keep it a secret until you read about her, but we could not be prouder of her efforts, and it’s only fair she be added as an “honorary” graduate with our scholarship program.

As this will be our last post for 2016, we want to thank all of you for your support of these students. We truly believe that life in the world will be better for everyone when everyone has access to an education. We can’t thank you enough for the donations and emotional support you’ve provided over the past five (almost six!) years.

We hope you have a happy, warm, and joyful New Year, and we’ll see you in 2017!