Los Hatillos Scholarship Fund

End Date: Aug 16, 2016 12:00 AM

In March 2016, our Global Brigades program at Georgetown University traveled to Honduras to learn about health disparities in developing countries. To help improve public health conditions in a sustainable way, we also built bathrooms and poured concrete floors in a village called Los Hatillos Dos.

There, we met an 18 year old girl named Gelin, who was the first person in her village to have completed high school. To attend high school, she walked for an hour each morning and evening in scorching heat and studied in extremely impoverished conditions. We were highly impressed with her academic accomplishments and asked her about her plans for the future. She helplessly explained that she could not even think about college because of the costs associated with tuition, transportation, living expenses, and school supplies. Gelin also informed us that her father had recently lost his job, and her mother has a seasonal job that only employs six months of the year. Thus, their family of four is struggling just to make enough money for food and living expenses.

Hailed as one of the most hardworking and brilliant students in her community, Gelin dreams of going to college to study business. She hopes to utilize her education to help her community develop and flourish, so her education would also provide a financial benefit to her village. In addition, the children of Los Hatillos Dos already look up to Gelin as a source of inspiration, so sending her to university would demonstrate the impact and rewards of hard work — it can lead to success, despite their current circumstances.

When we heard Gelin’s story, we immediately felt that it was important to help finance her education. In order to help her afford university, we are reaching out to you because we need your help. According to Gelin’s teachers, Gelin needs $3,500 a year for the next four years, and we would greatly appreciate any donations (in any amount) you are willing and able to contribute. With your support, we believe that we can make Gelin’s dream a reality, facilitating an enormous change both for her and her entire community.

Sincerely,
Sheela Ranganathan, Class of 2019
Alejandro Correa, Class of 2019
Penny Hung, Class of 2016
Akilia Jackson, Class of 2019
Georgetown University Public Health Brigades