U.S. Ambassador Mari Carmen Aponte, along with Alfredo Cristiani, president of the Raíces Foundation; Ricardo Sagrera, founder and President of the ¡Supérate! Program; and Thania Segura, from Microsoft Latin America, inaugurated the seventh ¡Supérate! Center, the Raices Center in Soyapango.  SUPERATE is a Salvadoran educational project, founded in 2003 by the Sagrera Palomo Foundation to provide English language and computer training and life skills to students between the ages of 13-18, who have demonstrated high academic performance and have a desire for self-improvement.  Students are selected from public schools in high crime neighborhoods located near the SUPERATE centers to complete the three-year program as part of their after school activities. 

USAID is providing $1.5 million to establish three additional SUPERATE centers through a Global Development Alliance (Public-Private Partnership) with the Sagrera Palomo Foundation (private sector investment will total $2.5 million).  This is the latest Supérate center under the program, which now has nine centers in the region; seven in El Salvador and two in Panama.

For the new Raices center, USAID provided $194,888 for equipment, the Raíces Foundation invested $500,000 for the construction, and Microsoft El Salvador donated software valued at $52,144 for a total investment of $747,032.

The ¡Supérate! Raíces Foundation Center has already benefited 45 youths from 17 public schools in the municipalities of Soyapango, Apopa, Cuscatancingo, Ciudad Delgado, Mejicanos and Ilopango. Youths receive quality education in English, computing systems and life skills, parallel to their public education. It is estimated that in the next three years the ¡Supérate! Raíces Foundation Center will benefit about 150 additional youths.

During the ceremony, Ambassador Aponte said, "This center, like other ¡Supérate! Centers, is a source of hope for young men and women to follow their dreams, to succeed, and aspire for a better future."

The founder and president of the ¡Supérate! Program, Ricardo Sagrera , was also pleased by the inclusion of a new center to the ¡Supérate!  family and said that, "As entrepreneurs committed to social and economic development of our country, we believe that education is the only tool that allows human beings to reach their full potential and positively impact their family and their community.”

Two youths, on behalf of the beneficiaries of this new center, expressed their commitment and motivation: “¡Supérate! is the best opportunity to achieve a better quality of life and positively transform our environment. As ¡Supérate! Students we can make a difference in our country."