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! 

Pre-School Set to Launch Fall 2012

This update is a bit late, but better late than never. It is important that we explain what happened with the English immersion pre-school that has caused it to not launch this year, fall of 2011, but for us to plan on launching it fall 2012.


This was Change My Stars first year in existence, beginning with the English immersion camp in July, which went quite well. During the second half of the month of June, we just began renting the building and preparing it for the camp. Therefore, our program did not have a strong presence in the community. We were successful in getting kids out to camp, but really this year was low key as everything was just getting started. The campers who attended and the counselors who volunteered all had a great time and have gone on to tell friends and family about their experience, which will undoubtedly cause more interest in the camp next year. 


We made a strong effort to get the pre-school off the ground. We did the best that we could. But in reality, we just didn't start early enough and our program was not well-known enough. We were even last minute with teacher committments and such. We now realize that for a parent to send their child to an English camp is a bit more simple than deciding which pre-school to send their child to. Pre-school is a year long commitment and the parent wants to trust the program. Therefore, we have worked hard to maintain activity in the same building throughout the year, turning it into a volunteer and visitor hostel that has many things going on, English education and mini camps throughout the year being one of them. We will also start reaching out to parents well into the previous school year and accepting registrations, as we realize many parents are already researching for the following school year at that time.


Please stay tuned to see the progress!

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!