2012-2013 Scholarships Announced

Eriverto at camp.

       We are happy to announce that three scholarships have been awarded for the 2012-2013 school year. Miguelina Joseph and Eriverto Osvaldo both received scholarships again, which have allowed them to continue their education in El Colegio Sueño de Los Niños. Miguelina is in 7th grade and Eriverto is in 5th grade. 

Miguelina at camp.

Freddy Jean Piet, who is more commonly called Fefe, has begun his first year of university studies at the University OyM in Puerto Plata. He is studying modern languages. 

Fefe at high school graduation.

Thank you to those of you who have supported these scholarships! These are truly life changing opportunities for these kids and young adult. 

End of Camp, Transition to Weekly Club!

Our apologies for never posting summaries of week 5 and 6 of camp. With volunteers leaving and transitioning into the new school year, we got busy! But the last two weeks of camp were great. During the last few days of camp, along with having some end of camp fun time, we gave quizzes in each station to see how much campers had learned throughout the summer.  Here are the averages:

Active Games Station

Body parts - 73%

Actions & Directions - 73%

Arts & Crafts Station

Colors - 92%

Weather - 97%

Songs Station

Baby Shark - 91%

Old McDonald - 87%

Story Station

Emotions - 59%

We will run our next English camp over Winter Break for one week beginning Monday, December 31st. Camp will run from 9 am-12 pm each day of the week and will cost 200 pesos (about $5.10 US). For parents who work early, we will have before care from 8-9 am but the week will then cost 250 pesos. After this winter camp, our summer camp will run during summer vacation for six weeks, beginning Monday, June 24th. If you are interested in sponsoring a camper to attend either winter or summer camp or are interested in participating as a volunteer counselor, please e-mail cambia.mis.estrellas@gmail.com. 

Also, to continue with a little English education throughout the year for youth 5-14 years old, we have begun an English club. The club runs on Thursday afternoons from 2-4 pm. Registration is 100 pesos and the monthly fee is 200 pesos. Participants who need to be picked up will be charged 300 pesos a month. Again, if you are interested in sponsoring a camper or participating as a volunteer counselor, please e-mail cambia.mis.estrellas@gmail.com. 

Thank you! We look forward to giving you more updates! 

Camp: Week 4

We had such a great week here at camp! The kids are really beginning to grow in their knowledge of English.  It's nice to hear the kids say "good morning" without hesitation.  They are beginning to ask for things in English without having to be reminded.  It's great to see progress!

This week we were joined by two new counselors: Sara and Patricia.  We've been so lucky to have counselors that are so dedicated as well as creative with their classes.  Sara was a counselor last year and jumped right in helping Kate with games, while Patricia worked with Em in art class.

The kids really enjoyed art class this week!  They were able to make butterflies, scenes that depicted different weather and even puppets to practice their words in English. Counselors Em and Patricia made it fun for the campers giving them plenty of art supplies to inspire their learning. 

The kids spent the week practicing a song about the weather.  It was perfect because we got a lot of rain last week and the kids enjoyed yelling, "it's raining!"  in English. The campers were given a quiz at the end of the week and everyone did really well!  It seems they learned a lot through songs. 

In games, the kids were able to put their weather knowledge to good use by playing competitive games with counselors Kate and Sara.  The counselors made practicing fun and easy as the kids were able to use English to walk through an obstacle course as well as play charades to act out their new English vocabulary.

We had such a great week at camp- can't believe we're more than halfway through!

Camp: Week 3

This week at camp the kids learned so much!  We had one new counselor this week, Amanda, and we were also joined by two boys who have been living in the Project Esperanza Boys' Home: Willy and Enso.  Both Willy and Enso have been helping out with the younger kids, but also learning a lot of English.   


In songs class, Counselors Liz, Virginia and Amanda taught the kids a song to memorize the days of the week.  The song was set to the tune of "The Adams Family" theme and the kids really enjoyed singing and snapping their fingers.

Art class with Counselors Em and Katia was also very successful for the campers.  The kids reviewed shapes as well as colors by painting.  The campers really enjoyed using paint, especially mixing colors to make new colors!  The campers also learned a little about time and created clocks to work on how to ask as well as tell someone what time it is. 

Games with Counselors Sandra and Katie was probably everyone's favorite class this week as they spent their time working on Zumba and other dances.  Practicing the dances was not only fun for the kids, but it was also a great way for them to review their directions.

On Friday, the kids who earned 25 or more points throughout the week were able to go on a small trip to tour the neighborhood.  They checked out the Post Office, the Fire Station, and (everyone's favorite part) the BEACH!  All of the kids who were able to participate enjoyed the trip and those who did not earn 25 points reflected on the reasons why they were not allowed to participate. We award points when kids follow the camp rules consistently and answer challenge questions. We take away points when campers disobey the rules. The reward trip was a great ending to a very fun week at camp.

Cha cha slide - How low can you go?

Cha cha real smooth.

Camp: Week 2

 Our second week at camp has been so exciting!  We have 3 new campers who really seem to be enjoying all of the activities and many new friendships are blossoming.  We also welcomed 3 new counselors this week, Liz, Virginia, and Cole.  


Our focus for this week was on colors and our homes.


In art class the campers practiced their vocabulary by drawing pictures of their homes and labeling the rooms as well as items you might find in those rooms.  Later in the week they played pictionary to practice identifying household items in English.  The campers also practiced explaining what they would do in each of the rooms by writing stories about how they spend their mornings: I sleep in my bedroom.  I eat breakfast in the kitchen.  I watch TV in the living room. At the end of the week, the students created books about the colors of the rainbow in art class.  They were able to color pictures of a rainbow and label them with color words in English.

Outdoor games and activities were very fun for the campers.  They played different games each day to practice their vocabulary.  They started the week off by playing 4 corners.  Each of the corners of the yard were labeled with different rooms in the house.  The students were then told an item and they had to run to the room in which they would find that item.  They also played a modified baseball game to practice some of their action words like: walk, jump, skip and run.  On Friday, the kids went on a treasure hunt to practice their directions.   They all loved finding the caramelo (candy) at the end!

Camper Aniverca can't run due to her cerebral palsy so Counselor Cole carried her. With no special education in public schools, Aniverca has never attended school. Camp is quite an opportunity for her!

Songs was very exciting this week because counselor Sandra bought a new guitar for the camp!  Using her guitar playing as back up, the kids had so much fun singing, I Can Sing a Rainbow and In the Jungle.





Once again, campers were quizzed on Friday to see what they learned. Four campers scored 100% The average score was 75%. As far as sponsored campers go, we still seek sponsors for Medlen and Juliana, as well as a new and unexpected member to Project Esperanza's boys' home. Thank you to those of you who are sponsoring! If you are not sponsoring but would like to, please e-mail cambia.mis.estrellas@gmail.com. 

Week 1 of Camp - Now We're Having Fun!

Team building activities were incorporated into the first week as well.

June 25th marked the first day of camp!  Ten campers from the Puerto Plata barrios joined us for a week of fun and learning.  We started off the week by introducing English vocabulary for parts of the body, feelings, and family members.  Each morning when campers arrived we sat together in Morning Meeting to greet each other and review the day's activities.  Throughout the morning kids worked in small groups to practice vocabulary at three stations; art, songs and active games.

Milena with her "I feel" drawing and sentence.

In art, Counselor Katie, led campers in drawing pictures of themselves and labeling the parts of their bodies; head, arms, hand, feet, etc. Later in the week kids played charades with "feeling" words in English: like happy, sad, tired, and hungry.  They had a marvelous time acting out the different words and guessing what each other was "feeling."  Campers then wrote sentences using the vocabulary.  For example, "I feel cold when it rains."

Throughout the week, campers and Counselor Sandra learned and sang many songs to help them remember the new vocabulary.  To review the parts of the body kids learned "Head, shoulders, knees and toes."  They sang, "If you're happy and you know it..." and "I have a happy feeling down in my heart" to practice "feeling" words.  Finally students took part in writing their own chant by describing their family:  "I have a mother and a father and a brother and un gato."

Campers learned new games that helped them remember all of the vocabulary we were teaching them!  A favorite was a race to tape the names of the body parts, in the correct place, onto a partner faster than the other pairs.  Kids enjoyed the Olde English "Hokey Cokey," thanks to our British mate, Counselor Kate!  Campers also played a variety of games, like bowling, to practice numbers and letters of the alphabet.
   

Instead of "duck, duck, goose", we played "up, up, down".

Each day campers met together for story time.  Three stories were introduced this week.  The first was "Three Billy Goats Gruff."  We discussed the meaning of the words "big," "middle," and "small."  Students compared objects that would fit into each category.  We also read the story "Swishy Tail" about a fish who gets lost in the sea.  On each page of the story Swishy Tail says, "I feel so lonely" and "I want to go home."  We talked about the meaning of "I feel" and "I want".  These phrases tied in perfectly with the vocabulary for feelings.  The final book we read this week was called "Dinosaur."  This was another book with a lot of repeating vocabulary.  We have reread all three books, and many of the campers can recite by memory the words that repeat in the story.

Story time!

To end each day we gathered together in Closing Circle.  Each student shared at least one new word they learned throughout the day and the meaning of that word.  Campers also sang a song or played an activity they had learned that day.

On Friday campers were given a mini-exam to test what vocabulary they learned that week as a way for counselors to gauge the effectiveness of the activities that week.  They were tested on body parts, family members, numbers, "I feel" and "I want".  The average score was 88%. The second week of camp is focusing on vocabulary for around the house and in the community. :)

We still have two hopeful campers, Medlen and Juliana, who are not yet sponsored. These two are anxious to go to camp if anyone can sponsor them! Sponsors received updates about their camper's first week of camp with pictures and quiz scores. Thank you to those of you who are sponsoring campers! 

Last Three Campers in Need of Sponsorship

I apologize for this poor quality picture. The three older children in this family photo are all itching to go to camp this summer! The oldest, Fejita, (female), is 9. Then there is Medlen, (male), who is 8 years old. Juliana, 6 years old, is the third child. It was difficult to get this family together for a photo since both parents work so much and the mother did not want her photograph taken. Finally, we got the photo taken, but again, it is not the best quality. 


I am happy to announce that both Enelbi and Junior who were in our last post, have been sponsored! So now these three kids are the last kids needed to be sponsored, along with $34 missing from Eriverto's sponsorship. Again, here are the camp costs: 

1 week - $16.80

2 weeks - $30.84

3 weeks - $45.00

4 weeks - $59.13

5 weeks - $73.26

6 weeks - $87.40

Thank you for your support!

Two More Hopeful English Campers

I am happy to announce that we are just $34 short of having all 8 of the kids posted so far sponsored for all six weeks of camp this summer! With the beginning of camp just 2 weeks away, everyone is getting excited! We actually still are a bit short on volunteer counselors. If anyone is interested in signing up last minute, please e-mail Cambia.Mis.Estrellas@gmail.com. 


This video introduces you to two more kids we hope to get sponsored: Enelbi and Junior who are both age 13. Enelbi and Junior have been members of Project Esperanza's home for boys on the streets since January. They have both been doing very well since entering the home, but it is important that they stay busy during summer vacation as well. Remember, the costs for sending a kid to camp are: 

1 week - $16.80

2 weeks - $30.84

3 weeks - $45.00

4 weeks - $59.13

5 weeks - $73.26

6 weeks - $87.40

Thank you for your support!

The Joseph Family

This is another family of five with two children who need to be sponsored. Miguelina, the taller girl, already is partially sponsored. $50 of the $87.40 needed to send her to camp for the 6 weeks of the summer has been raised. So $37.40 more is needed for her. Next to her is her younger sister, age 8, who hopes to go this year. Last year Miguelina went the entire summer and received a Change My Stars Scholarship at the end of the summer, as she was quite an exceptional camper. She also arrived early for transportation almost every morning and helped wake up and encourage other sponsored campers to go when they were less prepared than she. Please help us to send both of these two sisters to camp this summer! Again, the fees are as following: 

1 week - $16.80

2 weeks - $30.84

3 weeks - $45.00

4 weeks - $59.13

5 weeks - $73.26

6 weeks - $87.40

Family of 2 Kids in Need of Sponsorship

This is Eriverto, outstanding camper from 2011 and also a Change My Stars Scholarship recipient. He stands on the left next to his sister Anibelka (middle), and mother Adeline, (right). Their father is absent and Adeline spends her days walking around the beach searching for tourists to braid their hair. She sometimes goes months without finding work. 

Eriverto has improved tremendously since last summer, academically speaking, due to receiving the scholarship and moving from a public school to a private school. He needs a sponsor to send him to English camp again this summer. Additionally, this summer, we hope to be able to send Anibelka to camp, who has cerebral palsy, and with the lack of special education in this country, has received no schooling whatsoever, but spends her days in her tiny house or yard, which sits right along a main street. Luckily, one of our counselors, Cole, who will be present the whole summer, is a special educaton teacher from NYC and hopes to specifically look after Anibelka this summer. Can you help us send these two children to camp?

This year camp registration is 100 pesos and then there is a weekly fee of 250 pesos. The weekly transportation fee for kids from this neighborhood is 300 pesos per child. Therefore, to sponsor each of these kids in USD, the costs are as follows:

1 week - $16.80

2 weeks - $30.84

3 weeks - $45.00

4 weeks - $59.13

5 weeks - $73.26

6 weeks - $87.40

**Our apologies for a previous mistake that said $50 could send a child to camp. We made a mistake in calculation, only including one week of transportation costs. This is the correct cost. 

You can sponsor by sending a check to:

Project Esperanza

1291 Valley Mill Rd. 

Winchester, VA 22602

or by donating on PayPal. If you donate on PayPal, please add an additional 2.5% to your donation because that is what the PayPal fee is. Please help us send these kids to camp! We think it will be a huge encouragement for them in their difficult lives. Thank you!

Family of 4 Kids in Need of Sponsorship

This is a picture of a family of four children who we hope to get sponsored for our 2012 English Immersion Camp. You may notice that there are more than four children in this photo, along with their grandmother. The two two-year-olds are their cousins and the little boy in red being hugged up front is a neighbor. The other four are siblings.


In the back right in blue is the oldest, Miguel Angel. He is 11 years old. Then the boy in a red soccer jersey in the front right is Eduardo who is 9 years old. Shantal is to the left of Eduardo and is 7 years old. Then Shanel is to the left of Shantal, wearing a white headband and holding her cousin Wendely. Shanel is the youngest sibling and is 6 years old.


The kids live with their grandmother. Their mother does not live far and pops in occasionally but quite frankly is not very responsible or interested in raising them. Their father(s) is/are absent. Their grandmother works very hard and raises them in a strict manner. They are all four extremely fun-loving, healthy, athletic kids. They could use support in their education and would highly benefit from extra-curricular activities.


These kids are determined as perfect candidates to be sponsored to go to camp out of a pool of potential others in the same neighborhood because first, they have the determined need to be sponsored, second, they show the great need for educational support and extra-curricular activities, third, their grandmother desires this for them, and fourth, they have responded very well to small neighborhood activities and slight behavioral corrections given.


This year camp registration is 100 pesos and then there is a weekly fee of 250 pesos. The weekly transportation fee for kids from this neighborhood is 300 pesos per child. Therefore, to sponsor each of these kids in USD, the costs are as follows:

1 week - $16.80

2 weeks - $30.84

3 weeks - $45.00

4 weeks - $59.13

5 weeks - $73.26

6 weeks - $87.40

**Our apologies for a previous mistake that said $50 could send a child to camp. We made a mistake in calculation, only including one week of transportation costs. This is the correct cost. 

You can sponsor by sending a check to:

Project Esperanza

1291 Valley Mill Rd. 

Winchester, VA 22602

or by donating on PayPal. If you donate on PayPal, please add an additional 2.5% to your donation because that is what the PayPal fee is. Please help us send these kids to camp! We think it will be a huge encouragement for them in their difficult lives. Thank you!