Self-Sustainable Education in Paraguay

“I do not just want to be a local businesswoman, I want to be a businesswoman of the world,” were the words of Nusura, graduate of the SEGA Girls School in Tanzania. Listening to a teenager expressing herself in this way seems like a distant dream. However, this dream is the product of an education she received as a teenager in one of our self-sustaining schools in Africa. She is currently studying at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, preparing herself to achieve her dream of an entrepreneur.

Quality education implies that young people apply their knowledge and skills to build their future. Incorporating entrepreneurship, intensifying activities that develop problem-solving capacities, and stimulating critical thinking are some of the characteristics that a school should keep in mind.

The “learning by doing, selling and earning” methodology, allows young people to live experiences that lead them to eliminate the abstract and reflect on what they have experienced and connect with other events to continue learning. I still remember how my mother taught me how to make cakes in the house: a blackboard was not used for learning that. And what I did learn on the blackboard, it is now hard for me to remember.

In the Self-sustainable School model, which we developed in Cerrito, Benjamín Aceval (Paraguay) and replicated in several countries around the world, we see that all which has been mentioned above generated a transformation in the students. This transformation is reflected in the attitudinal aspect. I mean that there is an increase in self-esteem, ownership, sense of belonging, responsibility, proactivity and creativity in the young person.

Just as in Tanzania we saw students like Nusura, in Paraguay we have young people in our self-sustaining schools who manifest this attitudinal transformation. Another example was our graduate Ysmael. The first day he went through my office he opened the door to talk to me. With a timid voice and speaking mostly in Guarani and a little Spanish, a dialogue began between us that would continue through the rest of the school year. In each meeting, we talked about his different improvements in learning, about the attention in the restaurant and the kitchen. Ysmael’s Spanish was improving, as was his culinary skills. In the midst of it, we professors saw his passion grow for the gastronomic area. So, in the last months of class, I asked Ysmael what his plan would be after graduating, to which he replied: “I want to become a chef. I like the kitchen. I’m going to get a scholarship at a gastronomy institute. ”

After several obstacles which were overcome, Ysmael is currently studying gastronomy in eastern Paraguay, closer and closer to fulfilling his dream, discovered in our self-sustaining school. Another pleasant surprise is that the students of the 3rd year, as part of their extracurricular activity, decided to share their learning in leadership and entrepreneurship, organizing training sessions for other young people in the country. Young people transforming young people, what a great news!

In countries like ours, where we see increasing poverty rates, a relevant education becomes a necessity to counteract such an increase. A relevant education to eliminate poverty.

This is the education we want. An education that allows the transformation of young people, who set goals and plans for themselves to turn dreams into reality.