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.
Social Work is part of our Scholarship Program in the Dominican Republic
The main objective of the scholarship program of the Community of St. Paul in the Dominican Republic is to improve the lives of many young men and women through their elementary, secondary and university studies. Improving their lives also improves the lives of their families as well as the society in which they live and will work.
But there is something more to this scholarship program. Funded through the generosity of donors and private foundations from the USA and in Spain, the scholarships carry with them the expectation that the youth will participate in community service activities. All of the scholarship recipients are asked to contribute in some way to the common good, giving back a little of what has been given to them. For instance, they are offered the opportunity to teach after school classes (or English) to children, or participate in clean-up activities in their area (such as a removing garbage from a beach), or help people with special needs.
The youth who have received scholarships do all this, and the results are significant: in addition to helping others, they feel committed to the task of finding solutions for the multiple challenges that confront their town, their neighbors and their friends. Thus, by returning a little of what is given to them, they become leaders in the community, young men and women prepared and united in service to others.
