Starfish One by One, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
From the Global Women's Network
| Starfish One by One, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala | |
|---|---|
| Logo: |  |
| Street address: | 33424 Deep Forest Road |
| City: | Evergreen |
| State or Province: | CO |
| Country: | United States |
| Location: |
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| Location coordinates: | 14° 44' 41" N, 91° 9' 30" WLatitude: 14.7446115 Longitude: -91.1583735 |
| Executive Director: | Travis C. Ning |
| Contact number: | 303.670.1291 |
| Contact email: | info@starfishonebyone.org |
| Website: | http://www.starfishonebyone.org |
| Twitter: | http://twitter.com/#!/Starfish_1by1 |
| Facebook: | http://www.facebook.com/pages/Starfish-One-By-One/298980430510?ref=sgm |
| Target: | Girls |
| Organization type: | International NGO (operating in multiple countries) |
| Operates in the following countries: | Guatemala |
| Sectors: | Economic Empowerment, Education, Empowerment, Entrepreneurship, Gender Discrimination, Health, Human Rights, Poverty Alleviation, Reproductive Health, Violence Against Women |
| Year founded/registered: | 2007 |
| Annual budget: | 400,000 |
| Number of staff: | 15 |
Summary
SF1by1 empowers young women in Guatemala through education and mentorship to become leaders in their communities.
About
Starfish One by One is unlocking the "Girl Effect" in rural Guatemala through its integrated program. Through providing the personalized support of a community-based mentor, SF1by1 ensures that each young woman receives a secondary school education and is equipped with the critical information that will make her a difference-maker in her family, community and country.
Starfish One by One invests in the education of rural Mayan adolescent girls who otherwise would have no education beyond 6th grade. Studies show that the educated girl transforms herself, her family, her community, and her world.
Their target population is rural Mayan adolescent girls in the Lake Atitlan region of Guatemala. In 2011, there are 183 students and families in the program. In 2010, 95% of the students in the Starfish program continued their education and remained in the program.
Their purpose is to identify and nurture community leaders through mentorship and education of these young women.
Their programs use children's education, mentorship, leadership training and community development to work toward the long-term goal of breaking the generational cycle of poverty.
Starfish's long-term vision is to create a replicable model that can serve to improve the efforts of other like-focused programs in Guatemala and elsewhere. Starfish is providing training to its first client as of August 2011.
Activities
The Starfish One by One program consists of three tiers:
1.) ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS
Primary school directors alert Starfish One-by-One mentors to situations where bright students will be unable to continue into secondary school for financial reasons. Through interviews and home visits with students and parents, Mentors then select students according to:
- Aptitude
- Leadership qualities
- Family’s lack of financial ability to continue their education beyond 6th grade
- Student and family’s willingness to commit to the requirements of the Starfish One by One program: meet the rigorous academic standards, attend weekly mentor sessions, and do community service work.
Mentors then form groups of 15 students that stay intact through the duration of middle and high school. These groups combine highly challenging cases (such as a child who at age 14 is the primary breadwinner and caretaker of her family) with other situations where the financial impediment is the primary obstacle to securing a secondary education.
2.) ACCOMPANIMENT OF MENTORS - ìPrograma PODERî
Starfish employs mentors to guide young students through their education. A female Mayan mentor meets with a group of 15 girls on a weekly basis for the duration of middle and high school. In addition to providing academic support, the Mentor works with each girl to strengthen her talents and leadership abilities. Each girl receives powerful information pertaining to a wide-variety of subjects such as reproductive education, personal finance, social responsibility and environmentalism.
The mentor is a woman who is from the same community as the girls and shares their dialect. She also shares the experience of poverty, a large family, and parents who never attended school. Mentorís are university-level professionals who model the behavior and skills that each girl needs to be an effective professional and leader in her community.
3) THE BRIDGE - ìPrograma PUENTEî
With the support of a career guide, each girl is challenged to create and follow a life plan that outlines her short, medium, and long-term goals. Through setting up opportunities like professional interviews, audits of university classes, internships and employment opportunities, the career guide opens up the professional world that was previously a mystery to the young women in the Starfish program. Upon graduation her graduation from high school and the Starfish program, each young woman is equipped with a plan that makes possible her transition into the role of a professional
