December 2018
2018 marked the 10th year of the Fuerza para el futuro youth leadership program. This year, forty Honduran students came together for one week to work with students from Dartmouth College and Stanford Graduate School of Business to develop their abilities as leaders and give back to their community. Our curriculum was specifically focused on nutrition, a growing concern in the region. Students researched the nutritional value and costs of foods available in the area and prepared skits and posters to demonstrate how to best budget a daily wage to purchase healthy, nutrient-rich foods and achieve a balanced diet. They presented this important health information to dozens of families across five villages.
Students also dedicated significant time and hard work to construct chemical storage safety boxes. This project was designed as a follow-up to last year’s Fuerza topic of educating families on the dangers of storing and spreading carcinogenic agricultural chemicals in the home. The process was just as important as the final product. Working with two construction experts, the students learned proper technique for using tools from handsaws to hammers. They also learned different manufacturing methods using a mix of assembly lines and group workstations. These skills gave Fuerza students exposure to processes often used in factories, which have highly desired positions for high school graduates due to their high pay and medical benefits. The Fuerza successfully constructed 78 boxes, which were distributed to families throughout El Rosario.
