Few for Change’s 2011 Scholarships Have Been Awarded!
We are pleased to announce that this weekend, Few for Change's administrative committee chose the next three recipients of the Few for Change scholarship! We received 9 applications this year (more than twice that of last year!) and all of them were wonderful. It was a difficult process to narrow the field from 9 to the final 3, but we feel great about our new class of scholars. Congratulations to Olivia Gonzalez, Odilio Sire Palacio, and Analida Esther Palacios Gonzalez; our Few for Change scholars 2011!
Here's some information about them! We'll send more information (and photos!) in the coming months.
Analida Gonzalez
Analida is an outstanding student with dreams of becoming a teacher one day. She is 12 years old and lives with her mother in Quebrada Guabo, the same community that the original founders of Few for Change visited while studying in Panama. Analida has fantastic grades, writes clearly and her determination and spirit shone through clearly throughout her application. Her teacher described her as "respectful...responsible and intelligent...and not afraid to answer or ask questions in class." She is motivated by the absence of her father, who lives and works away from his family. "I don't live with my father," Analida wrote in her essay, "but that is not a barrier for me."
Odilio Sire Palacio
Odilio is a spirited young man with a great sense of humor. He wowed us with his sincerity and his clear writing voice that came through brilliantly in his application. Odilio is 15 years old and lives in Hato Rincon. He dreams of being a Spanish teacher one day and he knows that it is important to study so that he can "bring [his] family a better life and help [his] community excel." His teacher described Odilio as having "excellent qualities", saying that he is "dynamic, responsible, cooperative...an outstanding young man." Showing his sense of humor, Odilio closed his application by writing, in English, "My favorite subject is SPANISH". That made us all laugh, and showed us that he was a great candidate!
Olivia Gonzalez
Olivia is bright young woman who is very proud of her Ngobe heritage. This pride was the theme of her essay. "I want to fight and say that in our comarca (region) we can do many things if we try to reach our goals," she wrote. Olivia plans to help her community by becoming a health official and she understands that she must work very hard and focus on her studies to achieve her dream. Her teacher described her as positive, responsible, and observant, a quality which was apparent throughout her essay, but especially in her response regarding her favorite subject in school. "My favorite subject is informatica (technology) because it helps me to connect to the globalizing world in which we live and it will help me acheive my goal of being a health official."
We are tremendously excited about this year's scholars and we want to thank all of you who made it possible for them to continue their education. Thanks to our donors and supporters, these determined young students will have the opportunity to learn, grow and pursue their dreams of becoming successful professionals and making a better life for their families and their communities. We are inspired by these amazing young leaders and their stories and we hope that you will continue to support them and others like them by spreading the word about Few for Change and donating to our organization. Mil gracias, a thousand thank yous, from all of us at Few for Change and stayed tuned for updates and pictures from our scholars.
