Gilma and part of her family

Gilma

Three parts of Gilma's scholarship application caught our attention. First, although Gilma likes to play soccer, listen to music, sing in the choir, and is an expert gardener, she is dedicated to her studies and carries a big family responsibility being the only girl in a family of 6 kids with a physically-disabled mother and no father. No one in Gilma’s family has secondary education, yet she has an incredible drive to work to help her family and to help herself. Her 6th grade teacher recommended her for this scholarship stating that Gilma "has an excellent spirit of achievement which allows her to be dedicated to her studies and get excellent grades." During the interview process, Gilma told us that she’s not sure what she wants to study, but it does not really matter because she likes to study everything! Finally, her mother’s written essay convinced us that Gilma had a good chance at success. The following is a literally translated excerpt:

Well, although I am poor and, in addition to that, a single mother, I will do everything within my reach so that my daughter can get ahead because she is my only daughter and that’s why my vision for her is a young woman prepared to face life in the future because only by studying and giving kids this opportunity to study can they become somebody in life.  I am a person that believes that the best gift you can give a child is education and I don’t know if one day I will end up being wrong because I never studied so I don’t know, but as a mom I know I will do everything I can to help my daughter.

Gilma and her mother during the interview

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