Final Days in El Progreso

I arrived in Honduras in August planning to stay one month. Now after five months in El Progreso I will be leaving in January for Mexico City.

Earlier in December I said goodbye to my teachers and students at Best American school and on the 20th I spent my last day as an OYE volunteer. OYE held it's "Entrega de Becas," a welcome event for our new crop of scholarship students which brings our group to a total of 75 youths.

At the event, my radio students provided me with one of my proudest moments at OYE. The group planned their 6th radio show to be a year-in-review and also coverage of the scholarship event. With only a little prompting from me, the radio crew scoured the room for interviews with new students, parents, and OYE staff members, and interviewed themselves about their experiences in the program. The group of audio editors took care of the sound and our music group presented their top 5 songs of the year. After months of teaching them what I know about radio (in Spanish, which was no easy task) I was overwhelmed to see them put it into practice with such ease.

The OYE radio group

There were times when the radio students struggled to keep their focus and when our weekly meetings were not as productive as I would have hoped. But on my last day I could feel the energy and passion of the kids and I wish that I could spend another five months helping them towards the goal of a live over-the-air radio broadcast.

OYE was what brought me to El Progreso and although i also found a job teaching at a local high school in the mornings, OYE was where my heart is, and I will miss my radio students the most.