Scholarship Recipients

Darwin Pavon is a young man from Villa Linda Miller. (Villa Linda Miller is a new community for 165 families who lost their homes in Hurricane Mitch. See www.villalindamiller.thinkhost.com for more details.) In 2001, Darwin was the only teen to graduate from high school from that community. The Micah Project awarded Darwin our first scholarship so that he could begin college in January 2002.

If there is anyone who has truly learned how to overcome obstacles to achieve his goals, it is Darwin! His father Pedro was killed in a car accident in June of Darwin's senior year, leaving a widow and seven kids (Darwin is second oldest; the youngest is four years old.) Despite having lived in a shelter for months after the hurricane, helping to put food on the table for his brothers and sisters, and losing his dad during his high school years, Darwin was determined to get a high school degree. How proud he looked as he received his diploma (see photo below)!

At the end of 2001, Darwin’s mom and his siblings moved into their new home in Villa Linda Miller. In January 2002, Darwin moved into the Micah Project so that we could support him in his college studies.

In addition to his university studies, Darwin has been my “right-hand man” at the Micah Project. His positive outlook on life and his goal-oriented perspective have made him a wonderful role model for the fourteen other boys in the home. Not only does he supervise the boys’ daily chores, he also helps them with their homework and counsels them when they need advice. This year, he has started meeting with the oldest boys once a week to reflect with them about their future goals! He has definitely taken the leadership among the boys at the Micah Project!

2004 has been a big year for Darwin. Darwin began studying at Zamorano University, an extremely prestigious college that is located about forty miles southeast of Tegucigalpa (see www.zamorano.edu ). Zamorano's focus is agriculture and development and is considered one of the best schools in Latin America. In fact, its students come from all over Latin America!

When Darwin learned that he had been accepted at Zamorano he threw all of the energy and dedication that he has shown in every other aspect of his life into making that dream a reality. Darwin is not one to dwell on the tragedies of his past life. On the contrary, he wants to use his past experiences to make a difference in Honduras, which he has begun doing even now, at a young age. I am completely confident that Darwin will not only be successful at Zamorano, but that he will also use his education to work for the transformation of his community and his country.

The yearly tuition at Zamorano is $12,000. Our scholarship program will be covering the majority of that cost next year. We are excited to see how Darwin will grow because of his experience at Zamorano!