Video: Teens Escape Poverty through Education and Employability

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- More than $1.6 million in scholarships granted by Children International, a U.S.-based humanitarian organization, prepares teens living in grinding poverty for the job market.

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Children International has provided nearly 5,000 HOPE (Helping Overcome Poverty through Education) scholarships to teens ages 14 to 19 from 2004 to 2008. The scholarships are used to fund vocational education or college tuition to qualified teens living in poverty. HOPE scholarships  help remove the financial obstacles standing between teens and the education and training they need to get and keep a job, such as tuition assistance, books, housing, or transportation.

Of those 5,000 scholarships, 64% of the scholarships helped fund vocational education, such as computer training, cell phone repair, automotive repair, and other skills that will allow teens to support themselves. According to the 2007 World Youth Report, few poor teens can afford vocational training or college, and therefore lack the skills or experience they need to obtain a job.

For Laxman Ray from Kolkata, India, his dream of owning his own hair salon is within reach. The Children International HOPE scholarship allowed him to complete a professional course to become a barber. With the money he is now earning, he hopes to save up and buy his own business someday.

While the World Youth Report found more than a third poor young women in much of Latin America failed to attend school past elementary school, 65% of HOPE scholarships have been awarded to provide young girls with vocational or university education.

Virginia Gomez from Guatemala City, Guatemala, is one of those recipients. A winner of the United Nations' Outstanding Youth Achievement Award, the HOPE scholarship provided her with training as an accountant and gave her the confidence to lead a successful community-based micro-credit development project.

Children International's President and CEO Jim Cook said, "Children International is proud to recognize the talent and potential of our youth by rewarding them with life-changing education and training. The skills youth receive through the HOPE scholarship prepares them to get a better paying job and keep a job once they have it."

About Children International:

Established in 1936, Children International is a nonprofit organization with its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Children International's programs benefit more than 335,000 sponsored children and their families in 11 countries around the world including Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Zambia, Honduras, India, the Philippines and the United States. For more information about Children International, visit http://www.children.org.

SOURCE Children International