English Camp During the Pandemic

 During the pandemic for the summers of 2020 and 2021, English camp was down-sized with groups of 10 (ish) campers per day. In the absence of native English speakers, we created videos that local English teachers used as a framework for camp, playing games and executing activities between opening and closing circle videos to reinforce the vocabulary. We are planning to open camp back up the summer of 2022, starting June 27th, ending August 5th. If you are interested in joining us, please e-mail Volunteer@EsperanzaMeansHope.org. 

Here are some of the camp videos we created. The rest can be found on YouTube. They are for Haitian Creole speaking campers. We hope that educators in Haiti will use them as well. 

Colors and body parts

Monday Opening Circle: 

Monday Closing Circle: 

 Join our Facebook group! 

Summer Camp 2019

We had an amazing six week camp this summer! We welcomed volunteer groups from Georgia State University, Blacksburg Baptist, Mission of Hope, Diamonds International, and a group led by the amazing Nicole Tysvaer! Here are some photos and videos from the summer. 

79 campers attended this summer, although around 50 had regular attendance. This was our first year with uniform shirts, complete with the camp fruit group on the back! 

Pineapples (13 & 14 year olds and Cherries (5 & 6 year olds)

Cat (Estela) was our summer volunteer coordinator.

Mangos (11 & 12 year olds)

Limes (7 & 8 year olds)

Oranges (9 & 10 year olds)

This was the first year we had one of our regular teachers at each station.

Camp prayer

Circle time 

Photo voice project


Last day of camp beach trip and cookout

Summer Camp 2018

Story Station

Games Station

Songs Station

Art Station

Circle Time

Break

Photos courtesy of Ashley Fan

Change My Stars Student Spotlight

Change My Stars Student Spotlight: Miguelina

Miguelina goes to Colegio Santa Rosa de Lima and has been a Change My Stars Scholarship student since 2011. Here’s what she had to say about school this year:

"I am so thankful for this scholarship, and especially for Caitlin- for if it had not been for her I would not have had this opportunity.

School is fun I'm learning a lot! I would also like to learn Italian. I am learning to share with my friends and classmates and although sometimes I get angry with them- most of the time they are super cool.

In the future I would like to have a good job so I can help my parents and other children- just like Project Esperanza has been helping me- I want to do the same for them as well."

To send other kids like Miguelina to school, please consider donating to the PayPal link on the Scholarship page!

 

Happy Holidays All!

 

Change My Stars Summer Camp Recap 2015

2015 was another successful summer for the Change my Stars English Immersion Camp! After 5 weeks of fun activities and games designed to improve their English skills, the 31 campers who participated in the research on average scored 44% higher on the post-test.

 You can see what they enjoyed in these graphics made by Ashley-Brooke Moses.

The Change My Stars Program also offers scholarships to deserving students which works to place them in local private schools, as the public education system in the Dominican Republic has been cited as one of the worst in the world. If you would like to sponsor a student for a Change My Stars Scholarship either  once or on a recurring basis, please donate at the Paypal link on the upper right corner of the page. All donations are tax deductible. For more, please visit the Scholarships section of this website!

And last but certainly not least!

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SUMMER VOLUNTEERS!! 

Ashley McKenzie, Kayla Jacobs, Ashley-Brooke Moses, Kiki Spiezio, Pace Academy Group, Reed Kennedy, Crystal Fox, Melissa Fancey, Berryville Baptist Rascals, Shanyce Campbell, Jessie Montana Cain, Faith, Hope, and Joy Foundation, and the Noel Family!

It means a lot to us to have volunteers donate their time and energy to our work. We appreciate all that you have done and we hope that you stay in touch and continue to support Project Esperanza!

2014-2015 Scholarships

We never did post about the 2014-2015 scholarships! The following students finished a great year of school, thanks to their scholarship!

Freddy Jean Piet has less than one year left to finish his Modern Languages degree at OyM University. 

Miguelina Joseph finished her 9th grade year at Santa Rosa de la Lima. 

Chinaider Pierre completed his 9th grade year at CENAPEC. 

Eriverto Bien-Aime successfully completed 7th grade at Colegio Perpetuo Socorro. 

Kerenchy Petit-Compere finished 7th grade and Jon Mondesir finished 5th grade at Colegio Mundo Feliz. 

Milena Joseph completed her 5th grade year at Colegio Sueno de los Ninos. 

And Aniverca Bien-Aime completed another year of special education! 

Congratulations to these students and a HUGE thanks to their sponsors that make this possible for them! 

2014 Camp Week 5

CME Week 5 from Project Esperanza on Vimeo.