What's Happening
7th Annual Bob Johnson Charity Golf Classic 09/24/11
An exciting event helping to develop youth around the globe.
Summer Literacy Program Begins 05/24/11
Looking for a place to make a difference? Have some time and energy to give? Check out Read, Write to Lead!
Enabling Students to Achieve Their Dreams 05/24/11
A university scholarship program develops in El Triángulo de la Solidaridad.
Developing Community in San Antonio 04/23/11
BWAB SA has worked to establish several areas of community development within the San Antonio area over the last year...
Enabling Students to Achieve Their Dreams
University Scholarship Program in El Triángulo de la Solidaridad
A group of university students was formed this past October through a partnership with Western Union and comes out of the growing necessity for an academic and motivational support for students at this stage in their lives. Located in the precario, El Triángulo de la Solidaridad, where much of Boy With a Ball Costa Rica´s work is carried out, several young people between the ages of 17 and 21 were chosen to participate. (It should be mentioned here that the total of students that have made it to the last year of high school within the precario does not pass 8, limiting the number of students that could participate in the program.) As the group began, the students and their families came together for a kickoff meeting and agreed to the responsibilities that come with being part of the group, which include forming a consistent part of the group as well as dedicating at least one day a month to helping other groups in the precario.
In an area where very few students are able to graduate and the average level of education is third grade, this group and their success becomes very important for the community. These students are given a chance not only to graduate from high school, but to continue studying as well, assuring that their life will look very different as they break some of the cyclical poverty elements they grew up in. On top of giving them academic support, the students are given vital motivation and taught about love, faith, hope and never giving up, regardless of the difficulties in their lives, as well as the importance of having great relationships with their families and community. The group also represents a place where they can find friendships that support them, motivate them and help them learn to lean on each other as an important part of their lives. As such, if one of them begins to show a decline in their academic, emotional or moral development, the rest of the group is there to support and help the other.
Within this framework, the main objective for this year is that the students who are finishing their final high school exams would graduate and that by the end of 2011 the majority of the students involved in the group would be enrolled in a university. (As other students complete their high school careers, they will also be added to the group.) Perhaps one of the most important aspects of this newly formed University Group is that the students would be able to have a holistic development of values and capacities that will allow them to walk each day with more strength as well as being able to turn and help their own community.
For more information, please contact Jose Arias, Executive Director of Boy with a Ball Costa Rica, at jose.arias@boywithaball.com or by calling the office in Costa Rica at 2297.7058.
