Past Reports: 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005
Scholarship Report 2011
T
he scholarship program continues to grow. Each year I am amazed at how God continues to develope this program and use it to help more students and families.
This year a total of $26,695.83 was raised for the scholarship program. Below is a summary for how the scholarships were distributed this year:
Total money = $26,695.83
Total number of students = 85
# of students in preschool – 6th = 23
# of students in high school = 16
# of students in tech/vocational schools = 11
# of students in universities = 35
# of schools represented = 23
# of universities represented = 8
Backpack program
Total number of backpacks given = 530
Total number of school supply bags given = 380
Download a printable version of the 2011 Becas Scholarship Report (PDF)
Here are some stories that give a glimpse at some of the children or adults that are receiving scholarships.
This year I made some changes to scholarship program which has affected the overall number of students. In the past I have had a large number of preschool through high school students and a growing number of university students. The greatest need, I believe, is at the university level and therefore, I wanted to begin offering more scholarships at that level and less for elementary and high school. In doing this, though, it means spending two to three times as much per student since university costs are higher than most private elementary schools and high schools. As we have lived in Chiquilistagua for over four years now, we have gotten to know more and more of the youth that come regularly to play at the sports center. Many of those youth were in high school when we first met them and are now graduating and making choices about their futures. Many have decided to start working. Though some have decided to keep studying but lack the financial resources to be able to afford paying $20-40 a month for college classes. This year the scholarship program offered 15 new university scholarships. These new students are studying public accounting, education, psychology, systems engineering, law, and marketing. For 2012 I already have a waiting list of 12 students that would like to start their college experience in January.
Karina Bonilla Alfaro is one of the new university students this year though she is not from our neighborhood. I have known her aunt for years and because of our friendship I came to find out about Karina and her desire to keep studying now that she had finished high school. Karina is 16 years old and finished high school in November 2010. She dreamt of being able to go on to college in 2011 but knew that there really was no possibility. Her mother works as a cleaning woman for about $55 a month, and her father left years ago and does not help out financially at all. Her stepfather cares more for his 4-year old daughter than for her to the point that her home situation became so bad that she finally asked her aunt and uncle if she could move in with them. They agreed knowing that they could offer her a simple, loving home where she could eat, sleep and be safe but beyond that they did not have much to offer. So Karina moved in with her aunt and uncle and was happy to be in a place where she felt safe. At one point she told Xiomara, her aunt, about her dream to go to college. Xiomara, however, did not have the resources to help her make that dream come true. Xiomara is a friend of mine and someone who has helped me pay scholarships many times in some of the rough areas of Managua. While we were paying scholarships in February, she began to tell me about Karina and her dream to continue studying. As I heard Karina’s story, I began thinking, “this is exactly the kind of young adult whom I want my program to be helping.” A month later we met at ULAM, Universidad de las Americas, and did all the paper work for Karina to start classes in Marketing that following week. It has been a great first year for Karina though definitely a growing experience since as she put it “in high school, they do so much for you but now in college they expect you to do a lot for yourselves.”
Xiomara is someone I have written about before. She used to make her living as a prostitute but her life was radically transformed by Jesus Christ and is now working in ministry, reaching out to women in prostitution. Thomas and I are so excited about what she is doing that we have started supporting her financially. This past year she went to the States for a conference on reaching out to women in prostitution and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. There were handful of women from Central America and the conference arranged some help with translating. However, when Xiomara was telling me about her experience just getting to Wisconsin, I couldn’t help but laugh as she told me stories of missing a plane, trying to make sense of bus schedules and attempting to communicate in the little English that she has acquired. For all those reasons and the fact that she interacts with a number of short-term teams from the States throughout the year, I was excited to be able to offer her a scholarship to study English. She has just recently started the program but is looking forward to being able to communicate better the next time their ministry receives a short-term team.
Karina Largaespada Sanchez is a young girl from Chiquilistagua (our neighborhood) who has grown up fairly poor and yet seems to take advantage of any opportunity given to her. About a year ago she approached me with the request for a scholarship at a small computer training school. I was more than eager to give her one. Just recently she came to me to show me her final project and final exam from the course. She said she had learned quite a bit about computers and various programs and felt much more comfortable using one now. Karina will be graduating from high school in November and is hoping to continue studying at the university next year.
Oneyda Martinez is 24 years old and is going into her 3rd year of college. She came to me in March of this year looking for a scholarship because her uncle, who had been paying for her tuition, was no longer able to and now she is struggling to find a way to continue studying. She is the third of four children and lives with her mom and her brother. Her father died when she was young. Her older siblings have families of their own now. She is majoring in Education, and her dream is to use her degree to work with street kids or kids at the dump. She said that she is not interested particularly in teaching in a school but rather to work with street kids (many of whom do not attend school) in helping them to learn.
Donations can be sent to:
Eastside Development
PO Box 301471
Portland, OR 97294
Or you can make an donation online.
From all the children, their families, and the university students as well as Thomas and me - thank you so much for being a part of this effort to help change lives through education! May God continue to bless your lives as you have been such a blessing to many children and young adults here in Nicaragua. Muchisimas gracias!
