Develop Leaders in At-Risk Communities, Costa Rica

Meet Marlon. His dream is to finish college

Marlon is 23 years old. Since age 14, he’s lived in Triangulo de la Solidaridad, a community which will be relocated later this year.

Right now, Marlon is part of the college scholarship program, enrolled in his second year of university, and on top of that, is on scholarship with the language institute Idiomas Mundiales receiving English classes. As mentioned, Marlon’s dream is to finish college and these were his words: “My dream is to finish my degree to be able to work in what I am preparing myself to do, and to be able to help other people like me who need to move forward, but because of socioeconomic reasons, are not able to achieve their goals.”

Marlon also gave us his opinion about the work of the Foundation: “I think the work of the Foundation is really important for the communities they help, thanks to this, many young people like me are able to achieve our dreams of studying in search of a better life, since the first thing they ask you when it comes times to find a job is about your degree, etc. Besides that, the Foundation helps those in their programs to grow as people, socially and spiritually. For me, it also helped me to understand things that I hadn’t before, like the value of believing not just what you see and that there are still people that care about others - to share this with others to change this negative idea that ‘I can’t do anything’.  No one is born educated, but if I believe that everyone has the capacity to learn, this alone is achieving something when we suggest it. 

First Graduates from Triangulo de Solidaridad

In 2007, in the Triangulo de Solidaridad community, there were nearly no young people who finished high school and according to estimated data by a CNFL census (2010-2011), only 6% of the population had their high school diplomas. Now, thanks to the Foundation’s college scholarship program, 21 young people are being assisted, the majority of which have already finished high school.

For the Boy with a Ball team, it’s an honor to share this great news and to be a part of this process in the life of these people from Triangulo de la Solidaridad, real innovators as they are the first university graduates.

They are Edgar Hernandez and Raquel Henriquez, both graduated from the University of Costa Rica. Not only is this an achievement for them, but also for the entire community, because aside from their great example, they have taught us that with perseverance and effort, you can achieve your goals.

Edgar graduated with a degree in Geography and has collaborated as a program assistant for 2 years. At this time he is a volunteer in several activities and is also a part of the directors association of the community. Raquel, graduated in Business Administration, became involved in the Foundation 7 years ago. She became a scholarship recipient, has worked for the Foundation, and now is an active volunteer in different programs like the girls groups in Los Cuadros and El Triangulo, in communications, among other things.