Woody’s House of Hope Giving Girls a Chance at a Career

In Panama poor and remote families will sometimes send children they cannot take care of to orphanages. These orphanages are government controlled and subsidized, although many of them still require additional support from the private sector. When a girl living in an orphanage turns 17 she must move out and support herself. This makes it extremely difficult for her to stay in school. The Woody House of Hope will give girls like these a home with food and a support system, offering them the chance to complete school. Marie Claire, the founder of the Woody House of Hope, is a teacher at 5-Star Academy an International School in Santa Clara. With a Masters in Social Work and a passion for teaching, Marie Claire wants to create positive role modeling for girls coming through the orphanage system. She is not a newcomer on the block, Marie Claire has been involved with similar projects helping children in Haiti and the Dominican Republic for several years.

“Right now there is no support for girls after they leave the orphanage” says MC. “This house offers a chance for those girls to remain in school”. MC funds the project by working in her spare time giving private English lessons. She also seeks donations from various sources.

Woody House of Hope will also take in girls from families that live in remote mountain villages without secondary schools. Such girls would stay at the house during the week, so that they can take busses to attend schools, and return to their family homes for the weekends.

Edilsa is one such girl. Edilsa 16, is from a remote mountain town in Santa Cruz. Her local school only goes up to the 6th grade; in order to continue her education she must travel a total of 8 hours (A 3 hour walk to the bus stop, and 5 hours ride on the bus). The trip is virtually impossible.

In a letter Edilsa wrote to be part of the house, she explains that to her the house is an opportunity. She writes: “It is the opportunity to move forward, it is the opportunity become somebody.”

Marie Claire explained to us that girls coming into the home must be enrolled and attending school. For acceptance, they have to go through an admission process, and to keep their spot active in the home. The home itself has a set of rules that must be followed, such as curfew times, household duties, visiting hours and regulations for hosting male visitors.

With the Rio Hato airport soon opening in area, the Pacific coast will see more jobs available. While the government has promised these jobs to Panamanians, those applying will likely need a University degree and a good understanding of the English language. Woody’s House of Hope seeks to provide the chance for these girls to get good jobs and live meaningful lives.

Woody House of Hope, is named after Werner (Woody) Woods, of the popular Canadian themed ‘Woody’s Bar’ in Rio Hato. Marie Claire tells us that, before he passed, Woody and his wife Monique would bring the kids by bus for the day and close the restaurant to the public. They would let them eat whatever they wanted drink and enjoy the beach. When he was passing Marie Claire dedicated the project to him.

On Sunday April 13th the 1st annual “It Takes A Village Panama” charity run/walk took place at the Coronado Equestrian Club. Proceeds from the event went to support the Woody House of Hope, a home for orphaned girls, working on an academic career.

The event was sponsored by: United Country Real Estate, The Coronado Golf and Beach club, Coronado Es Vida, Five Star Academy, Locos Coronado, Mailbox Etc. and NitroCity Panama.