Thursday, May 20, 2010
Voice from the Field: Zaira Arauz Villarey
Zaira Arauz Villarey, an accounting student, takes part in a Coffee Kids-supported education project managed by our partner CECOCAFEN in Nicaragua. Zaira recounts a bit of her experience in the project.
My name is Zaira Arauz Villarey and I am a scholarship recipient from La Esperanza cooperative in Nicaragua. I have benefited from my cooperative’s education project for two years now and I am about to finish my degree in accounting. I’m thankful to CECOCAFEN, Coffee Kids and all of the donors that support them.
If it wasn’t for the help of these organizations, I might not be where I am because we have a lot of challenges here. There are several children in my family and – though my father can help us a little bit – he can’t afford to put us through college because of the high costs. However, with the help we receive from the scholarship we can afford school. Thanks to this support, one of my brothers has also had the opportunity to study.
The support we receive is great and we also learn to share our ideas during the exchanges we organize with other youth groups. Taking part in activities helps us a lot too, because we learn how to break the ice, to talk to and interact with others. When we meet with other students, we learn from each other and reaffirm our dreams.
The support that we receive motivates me and I’m excited to maybe work for my cooperative. As I approach graduation, I hope I can find a job opportunity at my cooperative or at CECOCAFEN just like my sister did. I want to have the opportunity to help others.