The Empowerment International office is buzzing with activity, and it's driving Caña-the exuberant puppy that we call a guard dog-absolutely crazy . She's running in small circles in the courtyard, unsure of where to begin. Everyone else is more focused.

Open boxes are spread across the normally neat office floor, and a dozen people are busily assembling packets of supplies to distribute to students in preparation for second semester. The volunteers are parents themselves, most with one, if not several children enrolled in EI's programs. Ana Rosa González's family-two sons and two daughters-have been involved with EI for the past three years, "from the beginning," she exclaims proudly. "We're glad to be here and help," she adds, taking a break from stacking the notebooks that are part of the mid-year supply package.

Her neighbor in Villa Esperanza, Ana Carolina Ruíz, agrees. Ruíz has two daughters in the program, and says that "the supplies are very, very important to us, they make it all possible." Both are eager to share, and are even more eager to tell about how much they value cooperating with EI to improve their children's education. "It's about unity," says González. "We are all working together to get them through school."

In all, 186 packets are being assembled. In addition to the notebooks, each contains extra pencils, pens, and a stack of blank paper. The supplies handed out in the beginning of the year are far more substantial. Then, each student receives a backpack stuffed with everything they will need through most of the school year: a uniform, shoes, colored pencils and crayons. Even silly putty for the youngest children. That package can cost $30 for each student, a sum that mounts up quickly as more and more young scholars seek to join EI's programs.