Last Friday employees from KM2 Solutions donated their first check to OYE Adelante Jovenes. This initiative from the company will contribute to ensure 2 scholarship programs for young Hondurans in need of OYE’s program. The money was collected during the month of July from employee donations in KM2.

 Employee donations come from a program KM2 Solutions initiated for OYE in which consists of employees signing up voluntarily donating 1% of their salary to the cause. During the months of June and July KM2 had over 100 employees signing up and donating for the cause, which tells us something about the social awareness there is towards the country´s problems.

The day was OYE’s 7th anniversary. Three young Americans, two of which have an interesting Honduran influenced background, started it. These are Justin Eldrige-Otero and Ana Luisa Ahern who spent early stages of their childhood in Honduras but left the country later in life to pursue their studies.

As the years went by, Ana and Justin occasionally came back for summer vacation only to find the country in a worse state than it was when they left. Each and every time they came back they were overwhelmed by how many adolescents’ lives were in danger of falling in the hands of gangs, crime and violence. Consequently Ana, Justin and Jesse Mockrin decided to create an organization that would help give Honduran at-risk youth a chance to be drawn away from their harsh realities by providing them with scholarships to complete their studies and integrating them into social programs that would enhance their artistic abilities thus bringing out their hidden skills in hopes they would later become agents of change and leaders of a new society.

Today OYE is an organization that has changed the lives of many young Hondurans, “If it wasn’t for OYE I’d probably be in a gang or dead by now” dolefully admitted a young man who has benefited from OYE’s scholarships. He is now one of the community’s leaders that reach out to the newcomers. Michael Solis, an OYE staff who studied International Human Rights Law at Princeton, explained that “helping” youth is not enough, while helping them to help themselves is key to their success. “Many of the youth come from disadvantaged backgrounds”, Solis said. “The average family income is US$150/month, and the youth don’t have much experience managing money. Often times, families actually pressure their children to drop out of school so they can work to help provide for their family members. It is a traffic cycle that helps sustain the family’s short term needs at the expense of the child’s future and potential”. Solis also emphasized that many of today’s youth leaders who run OYE’s various community programs were once the same kids who nearly missed out of an education and the future that comes with it.

For this and many other reasons, KM2 Solutions decided to help out OYE not only with the donation of computers but also by running a charity program that will allow OYE to gain funds to provide more scholarships. The company is also determined to help out the organization through a program that will involve company employees with special skills to impart seminars or workshops in a variety of professional and art related areas. “We’re thankful for the help that we’ve received so far from KM2. It’s been great and we’re looking forward to working together “mentioned Marisol Fuentes, OYE’s Director and Coordinator.