Sara Eliza Pérez

Sara Eliza Pérez inspires local youth to develop their future in El Salvador

Sara Eliza Pérez participated in the CAYA program and together with two other CAYA participants, Edwin Josue Cruz and Brian Alexis Alvarado, they launched a youth leadership project entitled, “Educándonos Por Un Futuro Profesional” (Educating Ourselves for a Professional Future), where they taught English to a group of 30 high school students every Saturday for six months in El Salvador.

Based on their project impact, Sara decided to expand educating students in her local community and has launched a second youth leadership initiative called, “Tu Mañana Comienza Hoy” (Your Tomorrow Starts Today). With this project, she leads workshops to develop productive habits and life-skills for public school students from municipalities of La Libertad, El Salvador. Through her workshops, Sara shares her CAYA experiences with the students and motivates them to prepare both short term as well as long term goals, with a strong emphasis on staying determined to fulfill their future plans.

Through the launch of the new “Tu Mañana Comienza Hoy” project, Sara has worked with two schools and has trained more than 250 students. Student feedback was so positive that she identified additional youth leaders and added more schools to expand her project.

Related Program

Central American Youth Ambassadors

The CAYA Program is a U.S. Department of State youth exchange designed to strengthen the leadership skills of young people from Central America and the United States. This multi-national exchange also builds bonds of friendship and understanding between people of Central America and people of the United States. CIED continues this work as a partner in the Youth Ambassadors consortium.

Youth Ambassadors

Youth Ambassadors is a cultural exchange program designed to strengthen the leadership skills of young people from the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States. It builds bonds of friendship and understanding between people of the Americas and is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.