Fundacion Transicion a la Vida, a project led by CALI VI Fellow, Patricia Planells, held its first spiritual retreat earlier this month. The seven youngsters that formed the Pilot Plan came from the San Jose de Malambo orphanage in Panama.

This past December 8th marked the launch of the Honduras Food Bank, founded by CALI VI Fellow, Mey Lang Hung. The project, which has been successfully replicated in other parts of the world, was presented in Tegucigalpa’s Marriot Hotel. Although the project has been initially established solely in Tegucigalpa, the plan is to bring it to San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba and other parts of the country as well.

Nicaraguan CALI I Fellow, Ricardo Terán, has been selected as one of four finalists for the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic. The prize is awarded by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, as well as the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations (CACIF).

Julio Rank

CALI V Fellow, Claudia Cruz’s Leadership Project has grown immensely in a little over a year. It is thanks to Claudia’s personal leadership that Glee Project El Salvador has grown from one club at one school to seven of them at seven different public schools throughout the country.

CALI VI Fellow, Giselle Poveda, from Nicaragua, launched her Leadership Project this past November 23rd. Bibloko is a free virtual library for children between the ages of 4 and 12 .

Carolina Freire

A recent study by Johns Hopkins University found that each year 140 million people perform some kind of volunteer work around the world. In Panama, as in the rest of the world, the contribution of these volunteers are as diverse as the needs around them. Some mentor children, clean beaches, organize recycling fairs, serve food in shelters or construct affordable housing.

August 24th, 2011
by Julio Rank Wright

Overcoming poverty is not about left or right; it’s a question of will. I do not agree with those who proclaim that the rich have a grand conspiracy to exploit the poor. Nor do I identify with those who suggest that is convenient for the left to maintain high poverty levels as a breeding ground for the survival of their ideological position. Poverty in El Salvador is a reality.

Hugo Roger Martinez, El Salvador’s Minister of Foreign Relations and CALI Fellow, speaks on the importance of a Central American alliance in order for it to gain morepresence on a the global spectrum. Martinez, an engineer and former deputy, stresses that respecting institutions is one of the most important pillars in consolidating the region’s democracy.

Isidro Rodríguez
La Prensa de Panama

What is your vision on regional integration?

Stepping up

After completing “The Aspen Seminar” in Costa Rica from July 25th – 31st Panamanian CALI Fellow Carlos Araúz, wrote an op-ed on economic inequality in Panama.

Is there economic equality in Panama?

Carlos A. Araúz G.