In the Community of Saint Paul, we firmly believe that access to quality education, from early childhood until college, is the indispensable key to the authentic and long-term development of people and communities. Without good formation, it will be very difficult for the most vulnerable sectors of society to move out of poverty. Only education will provide these sectors with the tools they need to positively work on their own development. That is why, for a long time now, in most places where we work, we think about what we can do to guarantee the access of low-income people to a quality academic education.
In this vein, we recently started a scholarship program for university students in Bogotá. As we have repeatedly reported on this blog, since January 2016 CSP members are working in the neighborhoods of La Resurrección, Granjas de San Pablo and El Pesebre, in the south of the Colombian capital. Since then, we have met many young people from these neighborhoods who, once they finish high school, want to go to college, but because of a lack of resources they cannot fulfill their yearning. In order to respond to this need, we have established a scholarship program, though which we are already collaborating with a dozen young people in the first semester (from August to December 2017), facilitating, with small scholarships of support, that they may go to college. Most have enrolled in one of Bogota's several Colombian public universities, whose costs are naturally lower than in private universities. The CSP scholarship consists of paying for its semester enrollment and monthly expenses for transportation and materials.
At the moment, it is a very modest initiative that we hope it can grow with time. So far, we are delighted with the enthusiasm with which each of the students who have approached us has taken up the challenge of going to university, well aware that this is the best way for their personal development, and that of their community.
