Saturday, October 6, 2012

Support a Scholarship Student

Looking for a way for your donations to make an impact?  Please consider the scholarship programs managed through Health Talents International.  In Guatemala, there are 3 scholarship programs offered to young people who are interested in completing a career in high school, becoming a physician, dentist, or physical therapist or becoming a nurse.    As you can imagine each of these programs can make a huge difference in the life of a young person, the local church and the local community.

Here are some of the scholarship recipients and their hopes for the future.  In total we have between 15-20 scholarship students and at least 10 future hopefuls.

Meet Gabriel.  Gabriel is from Paxot II and is the first in his family to finish middle school and will be the first to finish high school.  His plan of study for now is to be an elementary school teacher; however, his dream is to become a dentist with the possibility of serving HTI and his local area of Chichicastenango. 

Meet Maria Cecibel.  Maria is from a rural community which harvests apples, peaches and plums.  Her parents have little education and work off the land that is available to them.  Maria is the first to graduate high school at the end of this month.  She plans on starting nursing school in 2013 should she be accepted to the school of nursing.

 This is Marisol, also from the community of Paxot II.  Marisol will also be the first in her family to finish middle school and also high school Marisol is training to become a teacher and hopes to teach in her community of Paxot II. 

Meet Tomas - he is the second person in the family that will graduate with a high school degree.  The first was his brother Sebastian who graduated last year.  There will also be a third who is Tomas's brother Julio who is attending the same high school as Tomas.  Imagine the difference this will bring to a rural farming family and community.  They are part of the Xepocol church who in the last years has grown substantially and now have ministries through the young people that include children's Bible classes, vacation Bible school for the community, singing/praise team ministry, tutoring ministry and a computer lab open to the students of the church. 

This is Marvin.  Like the others he will be the first to graduate from high school in his family and also in his church.  What a responsibility! Marvin is the next to youngest of 11 or so siblings.  His father is a an elder in the church and suffers from a siezure disorder but is still a leader in the church and the community and still finds his way to support the family.  Marvin will also become a teacher and will serve as an example to many. 

Meet Mauri.  Mauri is a single child which is rare here but also has some very close cousins that the family takes care of.  Her family struggled and found a way to send her to high school where she received a degree in bookkeeping/accounting.  She is now on a scholarship to become a certified accountant / auditor.    She too will serve as a christian professional example to many young women looking for hope in the future.

As you can see the story is about the same for everyone, parents with little to no education, struggling to make a living and a better future for their children, but with a hope that education will provide an answer.  Most will be the first in their families to achieve these goals and some the first in their churches to do the same.  As a result they will be examples and christian leaders in their communities.

Please consider supporting these programs.  Pretty much all donations go directly to the student to assist in their costs of attending school.  These include transport costs (most travel at least 1 hour one way each day), snacks, school supplies, computer and internet work, etc.  The scholarship programs are developed to ensure that their is a partnership in funding costs between HTI and the families.

Your tax deductible donations can be sent to Health Talents International at PO Box 8303, Searcy, Arkansas, 72145 or you can visit the website for more information.  www.healthtalents.org