Give the Gift of Education to Children in Poverty

The challenges faced by adolescents in high school are difficult enough without the adverse experiences of social pressure, illicit drug use, bullying, and other distractions. Most students have these experiences at school to varying degrees.  Although common, it is always difficult to predict the impact of these challenges on individual students.  One of CAA’s Scholarship Program participants recently endured experiences that impacted her dramatically, and caused her to quit high school.

This is a spotlight on “Maria” (not her real name), one of our program’s top notch Excellence in Academics recognized students over the past several years.  Maria, in the 8^th grade of high school, is a Guatemalan immigrant to Costa Rica who lives with her parents and three siblings. Maria is a quiet, studious, slender, small-for-her-age young woman with a beautiful smile and a positive drive to excel in her academics.  Her parents are very supportive and attend her CAA Scholarship events; the pride and gratitude for the assistance provided by the CAA Scholarship Program is very evident and oft repeated.

This chapter of Maria’s story started some-time in April, 2019, well into the school term.   By late April, without warning, Maria refused to go to school and appeared extremely fearful and afraid of being around her classmates.  At home, Mariawasn’t eating and was losing weight. Coaxing and pushing at home still could not get Maria to explain what caused this sudden change, to resume her normal eating, or to return to school.  Her sudden absence from school, without any evident reason, also bewildered Maria’s high school teachers and counselors; they were unable to explain what might have triggered this result. Extreme bullying, an assault, envy over her excellent grades, her Guatemalan heritage, and her diminutive size were all considered, but Maria was not talking, so there were no leads to follow.  Her parents had no better success in getting answers.

After coaxing, Maria was willing to continue her studies at home, and the teachers forwarded her assignments to try to keep her on track. All were concerned that her health and excellent grades would suffer because she was not present for the class portion of her courses.  With no confirmed cause/trigger and no success in getting Maria to open up, the school counselor suggested that psychological or psychiatric counseling might be required to get to the issues.  Maria’s mother appealed to the social medical system here, CCSS, trying to get access to free psychological care on an emergency basis.  This system offers very limited access to psychological care.  Maria’s situation was not deemed an emergency, so the first appointment available was two months in the future and she would be severely mal-nourished by that time; and the cost of seeing a private professional was well out of the family’s reach. 

In desperation, Maria’s mother contacted CAA’s Program Administrative Intern to ask for assistance; and after discussion with licensed social worker volunteers and the Education Committee, we agreed to provide some special funding to get Maria in to see a private psychiatrist, and Maria reluctantly agreed to go to the appointment.   By this point, Maria had been out of school for four weeks and losing weitht fast.

Good news: Shortly after her first visit to the psychiatrist, Maria agreed to return to school on a trial basis for half-days; and then, gradually, she resumed regular classes as she continued to see the doctor in follow-up. The doctor convinced Maria to open up and to face her fears of returning to school; and we  can only hope that the doctor was able to encourage Maria to provide some information to the school counselors to help them curtail the abusive factors that prompted this fear.   

Because of respect for Maria’s right to privacy, we will probably never know what triggered this episode of fear/aversion to school and her classmates.  The counselors and our social workers suspect that some type of bullying by perhaps older and more mature students or a more aggressive threat was the cause.   Could she have been targeted because of her immigrant status, envy over her excellent grades, or some less overt action?  What is clear is that Maria had little confidence that the school would be able to stop the problem; therefore, she saw leaving school as the only relief available to her.

Maria has the option to get additional medical counseling if she needs it, so we are hopeful that the future is again positive for this delightful and intelligent young woman.  The medical support was made possible because of the generosity of donors through Global Giving and by the care and concern of our CAA local educational program volunteers.  Together, we continue to make a difference, one student at a time.  Thank you for your continuing support.