In the past ten years, CoCoDA has partnered with other organizations to support the Youth Leadership Education Campaign (YLC). This program helps between 30-35 youth attend college each year from the Santa Marta and Suchitoto regions. While tuition is only $50 a year in El Salvador, living in San Salvador is very expensive. The YLC program provides two rent free student houses.

This is not a loan program. As part of this scholarship program, these students commit to return to their home villages nearly every weekend to offer classes and workshops based on their area of study. In this way, they serve as mentors and examples to the younger children and create a culture that values and honors college education. In addition, many of these students return to be leaders in their home communities.

In 2019, we assisted our partners in safeguarding the sustainability of this program by raising the funds to purchase purchase a student dormitory, thereby giving the program a permanent home and eliminating the cost of rent. This will allow the expansion and improvement of the properties as well as an increased capacity to provide lodging to scholars.

Delegations are invited to participate in this project in the following ways…

  1. Visit the student house, meet the scholars and hear their aspirations.
  2. Raise money to support the construction of a second floor at the student dormitory.
  3. Visit Santa Marta or Suchitoto on a weekend and participate in the workshops led by these scholars.
  4. Support an anti-gang program in one of our communities.