Two young Honduran girls may be engineers for 100 euros a month

U4all has decided to award scholarships to two girls of Casa Hogar who want to realize their dream of a career.

University For All is gradually expanding its range in international cooperation projects focused on the educational development of young people without economic resources who wish to get an University degree. This time, the mission of our nonprofit aims to Honduras, one of the poorest nations in Latin America.

Why? Because Human Development Index is 0.625, which places this country ranked 121 out of 187 countries, just ahead of its neighbors Guatemala and Nicaragua (where U4all already grants to five students by the annual cost of 264 € in respect of moving from the village to the UNAN-León), and below El Salvador and Costa Rica .

Because, as a result of extreme poverty plaguing Honduras, many young people do not complete their primary education, since they are forced to enter the labor market in the most precarious conditions, and girls are withdrawn from schools to address jobs home.

Because enrollment rates between 13 and 18 years is only 34%, and illiteracy in youths of 15 to 24 years is at 6%. The Honduran population has an average of years of schooling very distant yet from the 12 years that the Economic Commission for Latin America has emerged as necessary for an individual to avoid poverty.

Because only about 14% of the population between 18 and 24 are enrolled in University studies and only 7% of Hondurans have attended University, much more alarming rate in rural areas, which is less than 2%.

The Casa Hogar of the Vida y Libertad nonprofit in Siguatepeque (Honduras) currently houses 42 children at social risk (for orphans, abandoned, abuse, maltreatment, etc.). These children, ranging in age from 4 months to 18 years, receive the comprehensive care that they need: food, academic training, counseling and much love. However, when the children of Casa Hogar finish their secondary education, the nonprofit can not take care anymore of their higher education for lack of financial resources.

U4all has decided to grant scholarships to two girls of Casa Hogar who want to realize their dream of a career. Indira (19 years old) and Lesbia (18), sisters, will be able to study Agroindustrial Engineering and Chemical Engineering, respectively. Thanks to the scholarships granted by U4all, both will go to the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) in Comayagua.

The U4all Honduras scholarships grants to the beneficiaries a monthly amount of 100€ (for 10 monthly payments per year), which aims to cover the cost of tuition, school supplies, food and transportation. UNAH is located about 30 minutes from the Casa Hogar and daily bus costs more than 3€, so most of the financial support to these two students is intended to transport.

(You can find more about the context in Honduras in our report of 2011)

Photography: El Heraldo

Author: Juan Pedro Burgueño and Irene Aguilera