Self-Sustainable Education in Paraguay

Students of the Cerrito and Belen Agricultural Schools in Paraguaya participated in a youth meeting in the city of Cuetzalan, Mexico, as part of a project aimed at the exchange of experiences in rural areas, in order to strengthen the knowledge acquired and replicate them in the country, in addition to also living intercultural experiences that enrich their personal and professional growth. Representatives of Ecuador, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Mexico took part in the exchange.

The Paraguayan students Roberto, Roberto Carlos, Jenny and Tania were accompanied by Amalio Enciso, Deputy Director of the Cerrito Agricultural School, who was the coordinator, as well as José Velázquez and Professor Midelaide Fernández, as leaders and chaperones. The organization La Esperanza del Mañana was the host of the meeting. It has received technical assistance from Fundación Paraguaya in the implementation of the methodology of "Learning by doing, selling and earning" as an educational model in Mexico.

Group work was carried out in order to integrate the young participants, in addition to seeing rural development and social entrepreneurship skills from rural areas. The delegation also visited the Taltokalis Field School, an educational center that replicates the methodology used by the Agricultural Schools of the Fundación Paraguaya.

Other interesting activities for the delegation was the tour of the city of Cuetzalan with the aim of knowing its historical and cultural review, traditional activities such as market squares, exhibition of handicrafts and agricultural products of its inhabitants. In the final days they visited the technological baccalaureate of the city, workshops with handicrafts, workshops of various productions, and met successful entrepreneurs who shared their life experiences with young people.

In December 2018, 86 students total graduated from the 3 Paraguayan schools implementing the Financially Self-Sustainable School model. These schools, the Belen Agricultural School, the San Pedro Agricultural School and the Cerrito Agricultural School, work hard to receive diplomas as technicians in agriculture; at Cerrito Agricultural School they receive an additional diploma in Hospitality and Tourism.

"They entered as peasant children, now they graduate as leaders and rural entrepreneurs," said Martin Burt, the Director of Fundación Paraguaya, present at the event in Belén. The students studied for three years under the model of self-sustainable education (innovated by Fundación Paraguaya), and upon graduation, they leave with the necessary tools to become rural entrepreneurs, or on the other hand, continue with their studies to effectively be good people for their community.

The graduates learned practical, technical skills through different productive units, such as the vegetable garden, animal production, and a hotel and catering experience in the case of Belén and Cerrito, with 50% of practical classes and 50% theoretical/academic classes. The new graduates presented, as part of their culmination, a business plan and received, to implement them, a line of credit from the Fundación Paraguaya. The students of these schools graduate with the necessary tools to start a business, work in the fields with their families, or, according to their motivations, continue studying. 

Congratulations to the class of 2018!