MSC archived stories - December 8, 2019
This giving holiday season reminds me of a sacred Hindu text of the Bhagavad Gita..
"A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return."
Three years ago CI presented me with briefings of 3 highly qualified youths to pick my annual HOPE recipient – not an easy task I must admit.
She is Heisel from Guatemala, a child of another sponsor. Her father passed away in May of 2016, and has one older sister. Her father was the one who provided for her school fees, and now her mother, working in the local market, is having a hard time covering the expenses. They were in debt with the school and Heisel was in risk of dropping out if they don’t catch up with their payments.
On receipt of the award, she wrote to me.. one of the longest written letters I've ever received from a sponsored child. Perhaps her sponsor is unaware of this to-date, so I shall let her tell this heart-warming story to the world from her own words.. (head over to My Media)
Heisel was 15yrs old when she received the scholarship. I wanted to find out how she is doing now in the hope of granting this year's award (for the second time) to this exceptionally talented girl. CI informed me that she is expecting to start studying at the public university the Medicine degree in order to be a doctor. She counts with her mother’s support to continue studying, however it has been difficult for the mom to cover all the expenses as she has not got a formal job.
I’m so proud of Heisel and pleased to know that she has made significant progress towards her ambition. And, her heart full of gratitude to tell her story of hardship and challenges will always be remembered with great admiration.
Your news that Heisel has completed her secondary education and is ready to begin university certainly confirms that you chose well! I'm always astonished by what achievements are possible when: parents support the education of their children, the children have the will to succeed and when they receive needed outside financial help. Heisel was fortunate to have each of these requisites for success!!
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Definitely a heartfelt and thankful letter! She is very certain of her goals too. At a young age, that’s so awesome. Hope you two reconnect! 😜
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Wow! Heisel’s Thank you letter was so hard to read, emotionally. She ends with “I hope you can be proud of me and thank you so much for your support.” Well, I am proud of Heisel, and I, too, thank you Chelaka, for your support!
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Nancy – Yes, her perseverance in adversity was a lesson to all of us! I didn't want her to dropout of the school because of lack of financial support, hence she was given priority over other candidates for the scholarship. I hope she was successful in the admission tests, as I believe she is one of the top students in the country to be able to enter a Medical faculty. Her plan B was to take English lessons.
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Liro – Yes, the letter was beautiful yet I'm in tears when reading it even now. I've a special trust set up, which requires CI to find an eligible youth to receive a HOPE scholarship annually.
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peppy – Thanks! I'm open to support her further if she does decide to take up the opportunity.
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Liza – I'm glad you felt the same way.. any sponsor's dream of a child's future!
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This is great! She is very thankful and sounds very motivated. It's also very cool how you sponsor a scholarship! That would be cool to do one day!
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Chelaka! Thank you for telling us you sponsor a CI scholarship, and thank you for sharing the letter. And a very big thank you for being so thoughtful and generous to young people who are trying to better their futures.
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