Last week, we sent Tania Caballero the first installment of her educate. scholarship, allowing her to start the first semester of university at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, a public university in San Pedro Sula, to study industrial engineering.
Tania graduated from her local public high school, the Juan Lindo Institute, in November 2017 with a 97% average, and was one of only two students to receive an award for academic excellence. Despite her outstanding academic performance and an incredible passion for learning, her family were unable to support her at university.
Tania is from the rural coffee-growing town of Trinidad, in the department of Santa Bárbara. She lives in a small house on a hill outside the centre of town with her mother, sister and grandparents. Her grandfather’s humble earnings as a shoemaker make up the income of the entire family.
With this scholarship, Tania will be the first person in her family to go to university.
Tania heard about educate. through a presentation at her high school and contacted us soon after. One of educate.’s board members visited Tania and her family to discuss their situation and what an educate. scholarship would entail, and Tania was accepted as educate.’s second scholarship recipient soon after.
We are thrilled to be able to support this young woman as she becomes the first person in her family to attend university. In Honduras, where only 8% of students from public school continue to university and where economic inequality remains the highest in Latin America, we believe that sponsoring excellent but underprivileged students like Tania at university is the best way to create long-term sustainable change. With her degree, Tania will go on to become an industrial engineer and an educated and empowered woman, transforming not only her own life and the opportunities available to her, but also the lives of her family members. Furthermore, she will be changing cultural norms and expectations in her community and in Honduran society at large.
Once a year during her studies, Tania will return to her old high school in Trinidad to talk about the importance of education and the opportunities that educate. scholarships provide. The aim is that Tania becomes a role model in her community, inspiring other students to continue their education, perhaps even to the university level, and thereby creating a wider community impact.
Tania’s scholarship amounts to the equivalent of USD$700 per year for the full five years of her degree. This sum covers the costs of all her books and transportation costs. There are no tuition fees at her university.
Tania starts her classes at university in just over one week. In the meantime, she is buying her books and preparing to start this exciting new stage in her life! “I am so excited to be able to study, it is such an opportunity!” Tania said.
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