Using a shorthand journal-style format, we will be sharing the build-up to Esperanza’s Mar a Mesa Challenge: Saturday, September 26th. [This event has already taken place. You can purchase your VIP ticket to the next edition below] Today was all about the fish! The boys departed from Amador Causeway in the morning and got to […]
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Using a shorthand journal-style format, we will be sharing the build-up to Esperanza’s Mar a Mesa Challengenge [This event has already taken place. You can purchase your VIP ticket to the next edition below] Day 1 of the challenge began with the arrival of our celebrity chefs! Led by Panama’s Mario Castrellon (Maito | Panama), […]
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We are thrilled to announce Esperanza’s first fundraising event, the “Mar a Mesa (Sea to Plate) Challenge” this coming Saturday, September 26th, 2015 at Maito restaurant in downtown Panama City, 12 – 6pm. This supporter’s event (the pilot in a series) will pair 2 Esperanza graduates with 3 award-winning chefs for a day on the […]
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Some of you may remember our Buenas Obras project, in which we are solving problems our neighborhood desperately needs (trash, graffiti, lighting) using a resource we happen to have in excess (donated goods). And one of the beautiful things about Esperanza is that our neighbors – all skills and backgrounds – are always looking to […]
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The Esperanza Social Venture Club is designed to give young men the opportunity to start their own sustainable businesses in Casco Viejo and this week, we were lucky enough to have Luis Moreno present Lava Autos Plaza Amador, the first official car wash in the neighborhoods of Chorillo, Catedral, Plaza Amador, and San Felipe. There […]
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While some of the more recognizable Esperanza graduates start their own businesses upon graduation, the vast majority choose the more traditional insertion into the labor force as their preferred income stream. And although obtaining a formal job may sound less adventuresome, for us these young men certainly deserve an equal amount of credit and applause. […]
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Upon graduating our intensive 10-week intervention and integration program, most Esperanza graduates go on to work in traditional jobs in the neighborhood: hotels, restaurants, cafes. Some of our graduates, however, frankly don’t want to work for anyone and instead, start their own businesses. To date, Esperanza has nurtured six graduate businesses to fruition and each […]
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If you’re wondering why the scene in the video above (and the photo below) has got our staff smiling, you need to know something: In Esperanza’s experimental world, we don’t often get the chance to celebrate victories. Sure, mini successes are going on all around us every single day. But the more significant steps – […]
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Casco Antiguo is in many ways the heart of Panamanian tradition. But new things are constantly sprouting from its walls. Like roots that dig deep into fertile soil, Esperanza aims to be a jumping-off point for start-ups such as Fortaleza Tours (a walking tour of Casco’s former red zones led by the very same ex-gang […]
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Casco Viejo has problems like any other community. We’re low on volunteers at our homegrown recycling center. We’ve got a beach that needs constant cleaning. We have graffiti that pops up seemingly overnight and must be taken down (whoever you are, can you stop doing that please?). But unlike most communities with challenges like these, […]
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