Meet the Fellows!
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Documents and downloads for Fellows.Eva Patricia Chúc Choxom
Eva Patricia Chúc Choxom, 27, is a Project Coordinator for Asociación Concejo Pro-Desarrollo Comunitario (ACPDC) in Totonicapan, Guatemala where she is a rural education teacher and a member of the Board of Directors. As a youth trainer, she has lead trainings on civic duty, youth leadership, sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and has trained the ACPDC Board of Directors on various SRH topics. She was a beneficiary of the 2004 GOJoven Team’s Leadership Action Plan and was trained by Puntos de Encuentro in Nicaragua on SRH and youth development. She also worked en the creation of a youth focused survey to analyze the SRH situation in Totonicapán. Eva hopes to fortify her leadership abilities in SRH and involve youth in knowing the importance of SRH. Ultimately, she aims to graduate as a social worker and work in various youth SRH projects.
2009’s Summit Fellows
BELIZE
This year’s team from Belize hails from Corozal, the northernmost district of the country, where much of the population is Spanish-speaking. While Corozal Community College provides a local opportunity for higher education, many students opt to study in Mexico because of its proximity and greater range of educational opportunities there. The only formal space for ASRH education in Corozal is through the Community and Parent Empowerment Program (COMPAR), which coordinates basic sexual and reproductive health presentations in middle schools in the district.
HONDURAS
Esther Tahrir and 2008 Honduras Fellow Milena Cacho interviewed 30 candidates in the Department of Colon, in northeast Honduras, focusing on the primarily Ladino town of Tocoa and the predominantly Garifuna coastal town of Trujillo. This region has particularly high teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and unemployment rates, as well as high drug use and a lack of opportunities for youth. There is no local governmental youth organization, department, or youth-friendly SRH services, although there are a few youth and HIV/AIDS projects, run primarily by IHP’s IFPLP Alumni Fellows.
QUINTANA ROO, MEXICO
All of Mexico’s 2009 Fellows were selected from the island of Cozumel. In addition to the tourist industry, the population of Cozumel is also on the rise. Although there are several government-sponsored educational programs working on sexual and reproductive health at the local and national level, 40 percent of all births in Cozumel are still to adolescents between 15 and 19 years of age. Further, while some 80 percent of the overall population can name various methods of contraception, less than half report using any kind of method regularly.
The diverse and multi-sectoral team selected for this year is generally interested in working on both adolescent reproductive health and sustainable development, which are central to the future of Cozumel.
Guadalupe Alejandra Islas Chan
Guadalupe Alejandra Islas Chan, 24, is a native of Cozumel and a Registered Nurse at both the Mexican Institute for Social Security and the Secretariat of Health. While she enjoys the technical aspects of surgical nursing, she looks forward to her new position as a youth counselor and educator in the Opportunities Program. Her longer term goal is to specialize in public health and work with youth to develop effective educational strategies to inspire healthy changes in behavior. She looks forward to learning more about advocacy and public speaking, which she considers particularly useful tools in raising consciousness around SRH issues in Cozumel.
Lemuel Manases Mena Vega
Lemuel Manases Mena Vega, 22, is a native of Cozumel and one of the founding members of the Park and Museum Foundation, which is dedicated to the conservation and maintenance of ecological parks and habitat in Cozumel. Lemuel has been most active in a project conserving and monitoring sea turtles and plans to present his findings at the Second International Youth Forum in Canada this year. Lemuel is active in local youth organizations and very interested in addressing the sexual and reproductive health needs of youth. He is currently completing his AA in Biology. His long-term goal is to establish an environmental education business in Cozumel to get the native population active in conservation efforts.
Justo Rosas López
Justo Rosas López, 28, earned his MA in Population and Demographic Development from the Latin-American Faculty of Social Sciences in 2008. He is currently Chief Analyst for the non-profit Observatory for Social Violence and Gender of the Riviera Maya, where he spearheads studies on the social realities of gender violence, education, environment and development, both in Cozumel and along the Mayan Riviera. Justo is an active member of the Network for Studies on Gender in Southeastern Mexico and of the Southern Border Research Network on Water. Based at the University of Quintana Roo, he is particularly interested in involving youth as active participants in his research, especially in studies on gender-based violence.
Guadalupe Andrea Espinoza Chávez
Guadalupe Andrea Espinoza Chávez, is a 27-year old reporter with a BA in Social Communications from Occident University in her native state of Sinaloa, Mexico. She covers the Cozumel City Council for a radio station and also produces a radio show called “Citizenship Pulse” that covers a range of social and health issues affecting Cozumel, such as alcoholism and teen pregnancy. Guadalupe considers herself a strong public speaker and enjoys being at the forefront of public events. Motivated by her own personal experience, Guadalupe hopes to develop innovative and effective strategies to inform youth about their SRH decisions so that they make informed choices that will influence the rest of their lives.
Juan Javier Rojas Aguilar
Juan Javier Rojas Aguilar, has been involved in the leadership of Cozumel’s Rotaract Club for nine years and has also volunteered with the local government’s Center for Youth Integration. Javier earned a BA in Commercial Systems from the University of Quintana Roo in Cozumel in 2006. His thesis focused on evaluating indicators for the sustainable development of the tourism industry. Now, at the age of 29, Javier is head of Cozumel’s Commission for Potable Water and also works with CODESUET, the Consultancy Group for the Sustainable Development of Tourism Businesses. He looks forward to learning more about sexual and reproductive health so he can integrate this knowledge into his youth and environmental work.
Carolina Almaraz Román
Carolina Almaraz Román, is a 23-year old Events Coordinator at the Cozumel Office of Youth Services, part of the local municipal government, where she plans special events for youth ages 13 to 30 on tourism, health, and self-esteem. Carolina is actively involved in the political group Frente Juvenil Revolucionario, where she works with 150 other youth in Cozumel to promote youth as a priority on the political scene. She is in her third year of a Bachelors Degree in Tourism at the University of Quintana Roo and hopes to graduate sometime in 2010. Carolina enjoys collaborative work and looks forward to honing her skills in media, especially public speaking, as a fellow in GOJoven.
Octaciano (Chano) Benegas Galeas
Octaciano (Chano) Benegas Galeas, is 20 and lives in Tocoa. Chano has a high school degree in Business Administration and is currently studying Management and Social Development at the local university on weekends. In high school, Chano was a member of a student environmental group organized by International Municipal Environmentalists. He has also been involved in numerous social projects in Tocoa, such as designing and implementing a housing program for the elderly and working with Medicos del Mundo. Chano has creative ideas of how to apply the knowledge and skills he will gain in GoJoven, such as organizing youth gatherings with music, dance, and movies around SRH themes.
Dayana Sarahi Mondragón Hernandez
Dayana Sarahi Mondragón Hernandez, 18, is a member of the political youth group “Jovenes Nacionalistas de Trujillo.” She has organized sports tournaments for over 500 adolescents as an alternative to using drugs and violence, and would like to integrate sex education into the group’s portfolio. Dayana is an extremely dynamic and visionary young woman, experienced in mobilizing and inspiring large numbers of youth to seek healthy options, and committed to peer education and youth leadership. She hopes to begin medical school in 2010 and to continue her work with the most marginalized populations in and around Trujillo. Ultimately, Dayana dreams of joining international medical brigades such as Doctors without Borders.
GOJoven's Mission
GOJoven promotes and supports young leaders to act as catalysts for social change in Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health. Read more here
Leadership Action Plans
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