Javier Reyes: Future Computer Engineer

Javier Reyes, educate.’s 2019 scholarship recipient, is studying Computer Engineering at the UTH university in Santa Barbara, near his family home in Trinidad, Honduras.

At 19 years of age, Javier is the oldest of his six siblings. He lives in a small house made of clay on the outskirts of Trinidad, Santa Barbara, in the coffee growing region of Honduras, along with his mother, stepfather, siblings, grandparents and his disabled aunt who can neither walk nor speak. Javier grew up in Tascalpa, a village nearby, where his grandfather worked on a coffee plantation and his mother and grandmother made food for all the coffee cutters on the hacienda. When they weren’t at school, Javier and his oldest brother Luis Nahúm also worked on the coffee plantations. When his grandmother fell ill and could no longer work, Javier’s uncle managed to get a small plot of land in Trinidad and built a house there, and the family moved. Now, Javier’s grandfather works in the fields growing corn.

Javier’s grandfather

Javier’s aunt

Javier’s family’s house

Javier recently graduated from the Santiago Pérez Technical Institute in Trinidad, an evening high school that allows students to work during the day and continue their studies in the evenings. Since seventh grade, Javier has spent his days working as a shoemaker and his evenings at school. Despite working and studying at the same time, he maintained academic excellence throughout most of high school. “It was very difficult to work and study at the same time though,”he says, “and if I had to leave work late I would miss the start of class.”

In his final two years at the technical institute, Javier specialized in IT, despite the fact that the institute didn’t have the equipment to properly teach the students. He applied for a scholarship after an educate.representative gave a presentation at his school several months ago, and having been selected, he is the only student from his year continuing his studies in university.

“It has cost me a lot to graduate from high school and has been a lot of
effort. When someone from educate.arrived at my institute and said you had a scholarship to support young people who had the dream of continuing studying, I was so happy because I am a young man with the dream of continuing my education. I want to graduate from university and to be the first in my family to obtain a university degree. I feel a great joy at this opportunity.”

Javier’s family could not be more proud of him. With tears in her eyes, Javier’s grandmother Olga Esperanza Diaz cried “I cannot believe my grandson is going to university!”

We are proud to be able to support such a driven young man in achieving his dreams!