Help Poor Rural Girls in Paraguay go to University

On the 19th and 20^th of July, the first ever Maracayú Educational Center alumni reunion was organized at the Mbaracayú reservation forest. The event was full of excitement and commemoration. The main purpose for the gathering was to install a space where recent graduates can exchange their life experiences, as well as to improve our alumni data base. In this way, we hope to maintain the alumni contact and to better track their progress after their time at the Center. It is also a step closer to our commitment to build a stronger alumni network and to take concrete actions towards the integral development of our students. A total of 17 recent graduates took part in the event and helped organizing a working team for the consolidation of the Mbaracayú Educational Center Alumni Association (EXACEM in Spanish). The young girls not only showed their interest and commitment to this new initiative but they also remembered their old times at the Center with great deal of emotions at a culminating bonfire.

Today, many our alumni are young university scholar girls receiving support from our kind donors in Global Giving, continuing their education and sharing their hopes and dreams toward their potential future.   

Links:

• http://www.fundacionparaguaya.org.py

Dalila is young and enthusiastic, and like many other students at the Mbajacayú Educational Center she has the dream to be the first member of her family to attend the university... “My dream is to become a psychologist in order to help other young people like me overcome challenges like I have; I will be the first in my entire family”. We would like to thank our donors for helping students like Dalila unfold their dreams and become true leaders of positive change in their communities.

Dalila realized upon arriving to CEM that her dream could come true only through two secrets: persistence and dedication. In her first year of study living in the Mbaracayú Forest Reserve, Dalila already stood out and was selected as the only member of her class to participate in the Paraguay Entrepreneurs Forum (FEP), a 3-day event organized by Fundación Paraguaya that gathers youth from all over the country to discuss entrepreneurship, career opportunities, and share experiences.

Dalila proudly narrates how this experience to represent her school helped her understand that if she works hard in school, she will be recognized and given the chance to succeed. About her experience at the Mbaracayú Educational Center, she mentioned “I really enjoy all the activities that we do in the school because working in the field allows us to learn real skills and share what we learn with all the visitors that come to the Reserve. My favorite activities are to work at the hotel, and to help out in the kitchen, I love interacting with the guests!”

Please keep on supporting us and help us create the conditions girls like Dalila need to tap their potentials and to become self-confident rural entrepreneurs…

Links:

• http://www.fundacionparaguaya.org.py