GENERAL:

To promote access to education for young Central Americans living in poverty and at social risk, by granting them economic resources, continuous follow-up and improving their employability profile, in order for them to aspire to better short and long-term employment opportunities.

SPECIFIC:

• Deliver monthly financial support to the student’s families with the purpose of using these resources on expenses related to their meals and education.

• Provide follow-up on a monthly basis to all participating students, so as to identify and intervene in situations that might result in the student abandoning the classroom.

• To improve the employability profile of young students by having them participate in language and soft skill courses, as well as programs leading to technical careers.

The initiative includes the following three benefits for the participating students:

• Economic Contribution: Involves a monthly scholarship (US$100 in Costa Rica and US$50 in Nicaragua) given to the students for the purchase of products from the Basic Food Basket and expenses related to their studies (transportation, school supplies, meals, among others). This financial aid is offered until they finish their high school studies.

• Follow-up and Support: Aimed at identifying and addressing risk situations among the students at personal, family and social levels which could prevent them from continuing their studies. The follow-up process is carried out with the support of a network of tutors made up by Grupo Monge employees, high school counselors and other allies of the Foundation.

• Employability: Aimed at improving the employability profile of each beneficiary. This component takes into consideration English training sessions, technical education and Skills for the XXI Century (by using Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality). Additionally, this section includes actions related to the mediation and inclusion of the scholarship beneficiaries into the labor market, as well as mentoring during the first three months of their placement within the labor market.

The Monge Foundation has an alliance with the Costa Rican Association of International Baccalaureate Schools (ASOBITICO, as per the Spanish acronym). This agreement is aimed at presenting the “SOY CAMBIO” program to students from public high schools who are up for the challenge of completing the IB.

We are currently supporting students from six public high schools enrolled in this two-year pre-college program. During this time, the students’ performance is measured in accordance with rigorous international academic standards that allow them to build a more peaceful and humane world.

This program came about as a result of an alliance between the Monge Foundation and the Embassy of the United States of America in Costa Rica so as to offer opportunities for talented public school students at social risk and under the age of 20, to learn and improve their knowledge of the English language.

Three generations make up the ACCESS program: ACCESS 6, ACCESS 7 and ACCESS 8, with 87 active students from academic and technical high schools located in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM, as per its Spanish acronym).

The ACCESS courses are taught by professors from the Costa Rican-North American Cultural Center and financed by the US State Department and the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), a plan implemented by the United States for the Central American region.

All students were chosen as a result of their academic performance, leadership skills, entrepreneurial capacities and their interest in learning the English language. The scholarship holders will study English for two years, during which time they will develop all language skills: listening, conversation, reading and writing.

The expected result is for 85% of students to reach a B1 level upon concluding the ACCESS Program.

This initiative benefits 100 Costa Rican students (50 from Puntarenas and 50 from the country’s Southern Zone) enrolled in ninth and tenth grade in public high schools, between the ages of 15 and 16 years old. These students are poverty stricken and at social risk.

Students receive the benefits included in the “SOY CAMBIO” program, using 100% of the CARSI resources to finance the Employability component which takes into consideration the following benefits:

• A two-year Full Scholarship to learn and perfect the English language.
• Six training sessions given by the Monge Foundation throughout a two-year period.
• Two SOY CAMBIO camping trips for the 120 students for which the project is designed.

The Monge Foundation was able to go as far as the Southern Zone of Costa Rica thanks to an alliance with the Costa Rica National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO in order to implement the “SOY CAMBIO” program at 6 high schools belonging to the Grande de Térraba Educational Region: Pacífico Sur High School (Liceo Pacífico Sur), Finca Alajuela High School (Liceo Finca Alajuela), Osa Professional Technical High School (Colegio Técnico Profesional de Osa), Boca de Sierpe Rural High School (Liceo Rural Boca de Sierpe), Bahía Drake Rural High School (Liceo Rural Bahía Drake) and Yimba Cajc Rural High School (Liceo Rural Yimba Cajc). Fifty students from the area will receive financial aid and other benefits to ensure their permanence in high school, a successful conclusion of their studies and the ideal conditions for their medium-term integration into the labor market.
This alliance also promotes sustainable development and intercultural dialog through education, as well as a sense of belonging to specific cultural characteristics.

In association with the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE, as per its Spanish acronym), the Monge Foundation has supported this program since 2014. This project has benefited over 300 students.

The objective is for students from technical high schools to graduate with an English level greater than B1 –in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages– and have access to better employment opportunities in multinational companies that are continually demanding bilingual workforce.

The scholarship includes a weekly four-hour English course lasting 16 months, complete with learning material throughout the entire program and an international certification test from the University of Cambridge.

“SOY CAMBIO” is designed for each new generation to participate in for a period of no less than three years but no more than five. During this time, the students will conclude high school and enroll in a technical program or pursue college/university studies.

The “Mesoamerica Health” (“Salud Mesoamérica”) initiative is a socio-educational intervention model that involves the participation of entities such as the National Institute for Children (PANI, as per the Spanish acronym), the Center for Education and Nutrition-Integrated Center for Child Health Center (CEN-CINAI, as per the Spanish acronym), the Costa Rican Department of Social Security (CCSS, as per the Spanish acronym), the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, among others. Its objective is to prevent risk situations to which the students are vulnerable to such as teenage pregnancy, and to avoid them from having a second child before the age of twenty. This is why the Department of Educational, Vocational and Career Guidance of the Ministry of Education and the Monge Foundation have formed an alliance to support a group of students from Sulä (Talamanca), Guápiles, Limón, Térraba and Coto (Ciudad Neilly) by including them in the “SOY CAMBIO” program.

This generation is made up by 60 students who have been granted a scholarship by the Victoria Foundation (Fundación Victoria), living in conditions of poverty and with an excellent academic record. They are all enrolled in technical programs such as Sales Management with an emphasis in Marketing, Food Technology and Industrial Mechanics. The students are mostly from Managua, Ciudad Sandino, Ometepe Island, Masaya, Nagarote and Ocotal, among other Nicaraguan cities.