A mentorship session at Starfish One by One
Every now and then it’s good to have a refresher course. As a researchers at She’s the First, we can get inundated with information and statistics. So, today, I sat down with one of my recent quarterly reports from Starfish One by One and thought I’d share with you all of the great programs they run for girls in Guatemala!
- The POWER Program (7-9th grade) identifies young women who would otherwise discontinue their schooling beyond the 6th grade. These young women are provided with partial scholarships to ensure their access to secondary school. Participants are then welcomed into a positive peer support group of 14 other girls. A community-based mentor facilitates this group on a weekly basis and also monitors the academic and familial situation of each girl. In addition to receiving academic and emotional support, young women receive training in reproductive health, financial literacy, computer literacy, environmental stewardship, social responsibility and critical thinking.
- The BRIDGE Program (10-12th grade) takes graduates of the POWER program and ensures that each is fully prepared to apply her unique skills and talents in the professional realm. Via the same peer-support space and mentor, each young woman defines her interest areas to develop a life plan, acquires the professional skills to achieve that goal, and gets practical experience to make informed decisions.
- Rippling the “Girl Effect”, Starfish launched its Technical Support Program in August 2011. This program helps other organizations replicate the successful mentorship model. This program is currently being piloted in the remote Ixil area of Guatemala, where with Starfish One by One accompaniment, a local organization is launching a program that serves 30 extremely marginalized girls.
These programs are helping to transform the communities served by Starfish One by One in the Lake Atitlan area of Guatemala. Through education and empowerment programs Starfish One by One is providing these young women with the tools needed to succeed and make a positive change in their communities. To find out more about Starfish One by One, visit their page in our She’s the First Directory!
