My Story. (written by Samantha)

This is my story.  My life was very sad.  Since I was 6 years old I was raised by my grandparents.  They took care of me.  They gave me their love since I didn’t have my mom.  They gave me all of their affection.  They helped me study.  They did everything possible so that I could succeed and every year I strived to succeed since they were doing everything to help me.  Sometimes they stopped buying things they needed so that they could buy me what the school required me to have.  Later, it was time for my siblings to study too.  Now it wasn’t only me, but 3 kids for whom my grandparents had to buy school supplies.  Even though this made it even harder for my grandparents, they never gave up.  They always pushed forward.  Later, I finished primary school and my grandparents were so proud of me because I was a good student.  But then, the teacher wouldn’t give me my certificate because I owed 2 years of monthly payments since it was a private school.  Because we owed so much money, the school didn’t want to let my other siblings matriculate.  Later, they supported my grandpa so that my brother and sister could study.  Many days and months passed, and I kept telling my grandparents that I wanted to continue studying but they told me that they couldn’t do anything else since we owed so much money and I didn’t have the papers I needed to matriculate in a high school.  I lost hope.  At least I had finished primary school.

            I want to study because I want to be someone in life and education is the most important thing that one can have.  I want to study to be able to help my brothers and my grandparents have a better life.  Because of my papers, I missed two years of school but now I live with my aunt and uncle and I asked them to support me to start my high school studies.  They told me that they would help me, when suddenly Jennifer (In-Country Representative for The Starfish Foundation, Inc.) appeared and she encouraged us.  She offered me one of the scholarships.  This made me feel very proud because now it wasn’t just the support of my aunt and uncle, but also the support of one more person that I could count on.  Now I am very happy because I am going to study again.  Thank you for your support and now I am happy!

Samantha and Arelisa, another Starfish Scholar.

Samantha in her house in Flor de Bastion.

--Samantha, a Starfish Scholar in Flor de Bastion