Meet Lillieth.
The first time I met Lillieth, I asked her what she wanted to be when she grows up; she emphatically responded, “A journalist!” So we gave her a notebook that very day, and now, you will rarely see Lillieth without her pen and notebook. Lillieth is one of the 150+ children actively participating in our Ilori Educational Program in La Carpio.
And like most of the children we work with in La Carpio, Lillieth is struggling at school for a combination of reasons: Her parents cannot help her with her studies because they never finished school; there is turmoil at home; and she is one of 5 children in her family (and most of her siblings are younger and require more attention from her parents.)
Lillieth has already failed a grade once and it was starting to look like she would fail again. She was especially struggling with the subjects of Math and Spanish. Therefore, Bien de Mujer arranged a tutor to work individually with Lillieth on both subjects, in addition to talking the school Headmistress into allowing Lillieth to re-test for the exams. After a month of tutoring, Lillieth passed all her exams– achieving an amazing 83% on her math—thus passing her grade!
Overall, the Ilori Educational Program is an experiential, uplifting children’s education program which includes “playshops”, fieldtrips, and events/activities outside of La Carpio. (Most recently, with help from the Scouts of Costa Rica, we produced an outdoor workshop for the children on Group Identity; see previous blog entry for more details.) Even though we work with over 150 children, we also work with over 150 individuals and try to address the individual needs of each child as well. Our motto: Leave no girl behind!
WWD-F/Bien de Mujer 