By Nola Nackerud
When Deysis Garcia Montalvan was in her second year of high school, she applied for a scholarship through the Asla Foundation. That was in 2007. She is now in her fourth year of college and will graduate soon. Her sister, Modesta, is also studying. She also applied for a scholarship through the Asla Foundation, as did her brother, Daxon. Modesta is studying social sciences at a university and Daxon is studying psychology.
Daxon in his community, El Algodonal
Visiting with these young students was joy! They live with their parents and their twin brothers in the community of El Algodonal, a community up in the mountain area of Condega. They have no electricity and they have to walk about 50 minutes from the bus stop to get up to their house. Their mother offered lemonade and she talked about her children and how one having the opportunity to study led to another wanting to further their education.
Daysi, Modesta, and their twin brothers with their proud mom.
What strong ambitions these young people have and they are so grateful and happy to be studying. The twin boys also want to continue to study when they reach high school age. The family lives in a very humble home, cooking with wood, candles for studying, and they live off their crops of corn and beans. The father works the land and also plays the guitar in church. The whole family is very musical, singing and playing the guitar. They are such a united family and so supportive of one another. The mom and dad revealed that they are so very grateful for the help in order for their children to study and therefore to better themselves. They know how important it is to study and they know opportunities will be so much better for their children with an education. Without the help from the Asla Foundation, the boys would be working in the fields and the girls in the house.
The whole family works together in order to better their lives. The parents are proud to have children who are so determined to become educated. Deysi, Modesta, and Daxon all said that they hope to help the family after they graduate and hope that their twin brothers will study, also. The twins see their sisters and brother studying and that encourages them to study. Their parents are so supportive, and work very hard to help in whatever way that they are able. They all expressed many times how grateful they are for the help from the Asla Foundation. Deysi will graduate this year with a teaching certificate. And so begins the fruitfulness.