We received the midterm grades from our girls in Nicaragua, and overall they are doing really well! We couldn’t be prouder of them and, as ever, we are so happy that they are continuing to try hard. Here is the list of grades that we received:
Alondra (2nd year): 78%
Belen (2nd year): 86%
Elizabeth (4th year): 98%
Melba (2nd year): 66%
Michel (5th year): 94%
Seyla (2nd year): 71%
Sua (4th year): 85%
Tatiana (2nd year): 76%
Odalis (5th grade): 80%
If you check back from time to time, we will have translations of their letters up on their pages as well.
A few of the girls dropped a bit with the harder classes in high school, but some are doing really well! Michel is doing so well in her last year, which is very important, because if she can maintain these grades she has a chance to get a scholarship from the school she wants to attend, which is an agronomy school in the nearby city of EstelĂ. She wants to get a degree as an agricultural engineer. We are so excited for her, and this brings us to our next piece of news.
When the foundation was established, we only foresaw girls completing high school, but we are now at the point where we are about to welcome our third graduate (Michel – our featured image for this post – will graduate on December 1) and we are thinking of what comes next. The board has been discussing what to do to help at least some of the girls after they graduate from high school. We realize that not all will want to go on to college (or can), but some may want to open a business, or go to a vocational school, or learn a skill. We want to be able to help them if we can, and as a board we have decided the following:
- The girls who want post-secondary help will need to fill out an application and write a letter with much more detailed information about where and what they want to do, how long the training/university course/etc. is and how much it will cost.
Girls will be chosen from this application, and not all will receive aid. - Girls have one year from graduation to decide what they want to do and to apply for aid. They cannot get pregnant during that year, or during the time of any additional aid.
- We will decide on the amount of aid, and the length of time for that aid on an individual basis, based on need, length of training or study, etc.
We have decided that we will not take on any more girls in the upcoming year until we can figure out how many of our current girls we can help after high school. Currently, we are accepting applications from Alicia in Guatemala, and we will accept an application from Michel if she needs it.
We have several girls who will be graduating within the next year or two, so we are very excited about this next chapter of our foundation’s work! We hope you’ll stay with us and help them move on into their careers and futures!
1 Comment
I applaud your decision to continue supporting the girls who have done well in their secondary school. Help with post graduation transition to a self sufficient life can have a positive impact not only for each girl and her family, but also for the community.