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Our First Bachelor's Degree

6/14/2017

 
by Mark Ely

Until now it was unthinkable that a young woman from Lemoa, Guatemala could graduate from university with a bachelor's degree. History was made this month when Sebastiana Gonzales did just that. Not only is she the first Pura Vida scholarship student to get to this point, but she also the first resident of Lemoa to do so. 

Sebastiana was selected for a Pura Vida scholarship as a 6th grader in the Lemoa public school in 2003.  Since then she has thrived academically, finishing her associate's and bachelor's degrees with excellent grades. She currently teaches math at the John Wesley School and is part of the local Pura Vida staff.  With her new degree she will be able to teach mathematics and physics at the university level.

Sebastiana is a big believer in paying it forward.  She recently told us ​"What we want is for the community to progress. Not just the families benefiting from the scholarship program, but all families."  

She practices what she preaches. She has taken on ground-breaking responsibilities as the first female among our 8 scholarship program community leaders. She also tutors our students and coordinates our annual milk distribution in Lemoa.
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Sebastiana and her mother
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We saw Sebastiana's confidence grow during her years in the program
Sebastiana has been sponsored long-term by Pura Vida board member Lyle SmithGraybeal and his wife Felicia. Due to their commitment, Sebastiana was able to go much further than expected in her education.  She recently told our staff that without a scholarship, she would never have continued her studies past sixth grade.

Now, thanks to committed sponsors, we have 28 other students attending university.  We hope that this number will continue to grow, and that the graduates will make a beneficial impact on their communities.  

[ ​University sponsorship program details ]

Rebeca's amazing transformation

12/16/2016

 
by Mark Ely

I first met Rebeca in 1999.  Her family lived behind the site of the orphanage our group was building in Lemoa.  She and her siblings sat outside every day to watch the commotion.  Team members would spend time playing with the kids, which is how I met her.  At a very young age she was already caring for her four younger siblings.
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Rebeca (far right) and siblings in 2003
Once the orphanage was completed, I began to stay longer in Lemoa to help out at the facility.  Whenever I went out the back door, though, there was Rebeca.  Eventually my Spanish got to the point where we could have a decent conversation.  One day we were talking about favorite foods, and she mentioned that she loved milk, but rarely drank it.  When I asked her why, she gave me her wide-eyed “are you serious?” look that I always seemed to provoke. Some quick research revealed that the price of milk was far out of the range of most residents of Lemoa.  Thus, in 2002 the Christmas Milk Program was born.
We kept up our conversations as years progressed.  One time Rebeca’s younger sister was making fun of her for failing 3rd grade.  “This is my third time in 3rd grade,” Rebeca admitted with an embarrassed smile.  And then, as all of the village kids did, she asked if she could be a part of the new scholarship program.  I gave her a noncommittal answer, but mentally wrote her off from ever being a part of the program. How could someone who failed three years in a row ever succeed in secondary school?
 “This is my third time in 3rd grade” 

Fast forward to 2010


Later the scholarship program began to take much more of my time.  I wasn’t in Lemoa as much as before, and I ran into Rebeca less frequently.  One morning in October we were busy processing new applicants when I looked up from my camera and saw Rebeca come forward holding an application. Somehow she had made it through 6th grade and had been recommended by her teachers for a scholarship.  I was amazed. We found her a sponsor and she stayed in school.
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Graduation in 2016


PictureJWS graduation - October, 2016
This October I was present for Rebeca’s graduation from the John Wesley School.  As she came up for her diploma, my mind went back to her troubles in the 3rd grade. It was quite a transformation. She had finished high school at a good institution with a GPA of 86!

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