Partnership with The School Fund

We are happy to announce that we have a partnership with a scholarship platform called The School Fund. They allow top students with financial need at least 13 years of age who are in high school to be posted on their site. The advantages of posting there is that they have an online journal built in where donors and students can write back and forth, as well as the requirement of posting receipts.

This first year they have allowed us to post 5 students. If things go well, we can add more in future years. Out of these 5 students,  Chinaider and Miguelina have been sponsored in full, Naomi has been sponsored 44%, but Wadner and Piterly remain without sponsorship. Please consider posting their profile on your FB page to gain interest! Donors really seem to enjoy the online journal that allows them to communicate with the students. 

In addition, here is a letter from Fefe, our university student. Unfortunately, university students are not allowed to be posted on The School Fund at this time. Lastly, we are in preparation mode for summer camp. We feel confident that this will be the best year yet! 

Hello to all! My name is Freddy. It is a great pleasure writing this message to you that have helped me very much in the university. Many thanks. I don't have money to return what you have given me but there is a God in heaven that will pay back those that are helping me with a good and sensitive heart. But right now I have a problem to register in this next cycle because of money. This is why I write this message to see if there is anyone interested in helping me to continue with my career that it should help not just me but other people. I don't lack much to finish. Please and thank you, his thousand graces and that God blesses you. 

He reports his grades for this quarter that just finished as:

English 5 - A
French 5 - A
Psychology - B
Phonetics - B
General Statistics - A 
Sociology - C

He says that the reason he got a C in Sociology is because of a group project where the group did not take responsibility. 

Thank you for your support! 

A Note from Fefe

Here is a note from Freddy Jean Piet (Fefe) who is attending the university of OyM and studying Modern Languages on a Change My Stars scholarship. He has done exceptionally well so far, just finishing his second cycle where he received all A's and one C (the grading system is the same as in the US). He plans to argue the C because he lost many points on a group project where his group members did not include his student ID number when they turned in the project, although he did participate. Here is a note that he wrote in the English he is learning and a photo:

Hi to everybody: 

Ok, I feel very happy to write this letter in memory of everyone who is supporting me. In this cycle I had good notes and an excellent year. I want God to bless everyone and thanks for all! 

Fefe

I also want to announce that a laptop was donated to help him with his studies as well, which he says is very useful! Thank you to everyone who has supported and continues to support!

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!

Donation Matched by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

We are proud to announce that recent donations made toward the Change My Stars Scholarship Fund used to send two kids to private school this year was tripled by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Mellon Foundation, therefore, donated a total of $2,040 to Project Esperanza. Thank you! 


Since these funds were created through the Change My Stars program, they will go back into the program through paying rent for the building used and covering some other similar costs. We would love to be able to use the funds to create scholarships for more children but we must maintain our basic expenses first so that the program can continue! 

Change My Stars Scholarship Recipients Announced!

We are proud to announce the 2011-2012 school year Change My Stars Scholarship Recipients. The recipients were chosen during the 2011 summer camp due to financial need, consistent attendance and participation, and potential. Both students have been awarded scholarships to move from the public school they have attended in years past to a private school (colegio) which will provide them with a much more nurturing learning environment and individual attention. School began August 17th. Students were awarded the year's school tuition, uniforms, and books, totaling $320 each. And the recipients are: 

Eriverto Osaldo




                                                     &

Miguelina Joseph.

Congratulations! Keep up the great work!