Paul and Laura Manship, Author at Shoulder to Shoulder, Inc.

August 16, 2023August 3, 2023

A Scholarship Helps Two Sisters

By Mariela Rodriguez – Communications Coordinator

During my recent trip to Honduras I was able to talk to some youth from our scholarship program and I wanted to share a story about the impact of your commitment to our student’s education in rural Intibuca, Honduras.

Meet Eva, she is an eight grade student who was cheery walking into the office where I met her. Eva and her older sister have been raised by a single mother- which has presented her family with many difficulties. However, her mother has made the education of her daughters a priority.

A Scholarship Helps Two Sisters Blog — Eva's brightening smile

Eva’s older sister is in high school, which means that there are more educational expenses (books, supplies, transportation, etc) for the family. If Eva was not receiving help from the Shoulder to Shoulder scholarship program, her mother would only be able to afford to keep one of her daughters in school. Instead, the added financial support from Eva’s scholarship allows two sisters the ability to study.

Eva also shared how she experienced trauma early in her young life which has left her with emotional scars. She also suffers from a respiratory illness which often lands her in the clinic for the day – causing her to miss school. Despite all of these obstacles Eva has been able to maintain good grades and is motivated to keep studying just like her sister. She thanks the donors who are able to make her scholarship a reality and allow her and her sister to study, helping them come closer to graduating.

Thank you for your time and commitment to our project!

June 27, 2023August 3, 2023

Igniting the Reading “Spark”

By Minsis Ramos – Assistant Director

We are pleased to tell you about a NEW CHAPTER in our book of continued commitment to foster reading! As our education team continues trekking towards providing a wholesome education for our students, we created a partnership with Proyecto Chispa or “Project Spark.” This non-profit in Honduras focuses on providing books to schoolchildren and preparing teachers to engage creatively with their students.

Chispa training; trainers in 2 corners

Together with the Department of Education in Intibuca, we provided training sessions for 120 teachers. Our Chispa partners covered topics like how to motivate students to keep reading a book they’ve already started and how to foster imagination by asking children to think of alternative book endings. Many teachers not only received the benefit of passing this knowledge on to their students, but also to their own children as many of them are parents too. One teacher mentioned how this initiative complements the digital books already available in Kolibri. Adding how her students come from low-income backgrounds who “couldn’t allow themselves to buy a book, yet in Kolibri we have a great diversity of books. [I am] very happy to utilize this teaching method in my classes.”

With the conclusion of this training we have begun preparing our schools for this year’s reading contest as we create excitement amongst the professors who can then ignite the “spark” onto their students.

Until the next chapter!

Links:

June 21, 2023August 3, 2023

Mayors Lay Bricks for Sustainability

By Mariela Rodriguez – Communications Coordinator

Our Team Meets with Intibuca Mayor to Collaborate

Kolibri is being recognized by local government as effective in engaging and supporting resource limited schools with quality offline content.

When we received our 2021 grant from the Inter-American Development Bank, our education program was able to reach 51 new schools all over the department. It was a quick deployment responding to the covid needs in Honduran education. After the pilot, our team wanted to make sure the schools continued to use Kolibri to its highest potential. For this we upgraded them with the latest Kolibri software over this past winter. The schools were all excited to receive the updated equipment back and the feedback was so great that mayors were calling us to join efforts.

Over the past months, three mayors began laying bricks toward Kolibri sustainability:

** The Mayor of Intibuca (pictured) purchased TVs for all 9 schools in his municipality that received the pilot last year. This fulfilled our sustainability component where communities were asked to put their shoulder next to ours.

** The Mayor of Jesus de Otoro invested in additional tablets and computers for new schools to receive Kolibri, and

** The San Antonio Mayor, who has supported Kolibri expansion in his town since 2019, continued by selecting a municipal IT support staff to be trained in Camasca.

The action of these three mayors furthermore sends a message of support to help make Kolibri a success. Our team continues to meet with other mayors who also want to follow suit, making us excited for future partnerships. Thank you for following our work and supporting our teachers, our mayors and our team.

With Respect,

Mariela Rodriguez

Communications Coordinator