Student of the Month — Hope for the Next Generation

DECEMBER 2008 > ESTEFANY

Sixteen-year-old Estefany is about to celebrate a significant milestone in her young life. In December 2008, she will become the first member of her family to graduate from high school. Estefany has attended the Nuestra Señora del Encuentro School in Lima, Peru since she was four years old. Although graduating from high school is a great achievement for any student, Estefany’s case is remarkable because of the daily challenges she had to overcome during the past twelve years to arrive at this point in her life.

Estefany is the oldest of five siblings and lives with her family in a humble aluminum home in the hills of San Juan de Lurigancho. Estefany’s father works as a brick layer when he can find jobs, and, until recently, Estefany’s mother worked at a cafeteria that would give her food for their family. Sadly, Estefany’s brother, Carlos, contracted meningitis when he was an infant, and is now mentally handicapped and suffers from seizures. The increasing severity of his condition required Estefany’s mother to leave her job to care for him full-time. The loss of the food donations from her job and the increasing cost of Carlos’ medicine have created an incredibly difficult situation for the family.

Nuestra Señora del Encuentro has been able to help through material donations and the education it provides. The school is securing donations of food and medicine for Estefany’s family. In addition, its high-quality education has given Estefany the confidence, hope and skills she needs to pursue a career in administration. In the meantime, her English skills and computer training have enabled her to work as a bilingual secretary to provide her family with desperately need financial support.

Countless students at Worldfund partner schools face similar challenges, and will be able to break out of the cycle of poverty, just as Estefany is doing, because of the support and high-quality education they are receiving.