Past
Students
Beti Ru - Burundi
It is a long way from Geneva to Adelaide, South Australia, but I have
caught myself remarking to my friends here that the city reminds me a
little bit of Geneva in the summer. Both are clean, quiet and reliably
well-run. I often reflect about the road that led me here, and it all
starts at La Grande Boissiere, where I was kindly offered a scholarship
to pursue an IB diploma after escaping my native Burundi in the midst
of a civil war in 1993. I completed my IB in 1996 and went on to the US
to study Government/Political Science at Dartmouth College and, for a
time, at the London School of Economics. I then worked as a Corporate
Litigation and Intellectual Property paralegal for a few prominent law
firms in New York City until early this year. While in New York, I met
my future wife, Ari, who was from Adelaide. She moved back here in
2006, and I soon followed. I now work as a Case Manager for a company
that manages South Australia’s Workers Compensation authority.
For many of us who have left Geneva for other pastures, I suspect what
we miss most about it, and especially about Ecolint, is the diversity
that our friends and schoolmates represented. This is also,
undoubtedly, what allows us to feel comfortable in whatever corner of
the globe we find ourselves. For me, this diversity is undoubtedly what
contributed most to my growth while at Ecolint. Being so effortlessly
imbued with respect for other cultures allows us to conquer the world
foster understanding across political borders, if not to break down the
borders themselves. For a future student of International Relations,
spending part of my formative years in such an environment was
invaluable, and I basked in it. It helped me make friends more easily
at University and later in New York, another prominently diverse city.
Later, it also helped me interact with my co-workers and, especially,
my clients, whether they be part of a Japanese multinational, a small
firm setting up wireless networks in West Africa, or an Australian
company transferring patents to a New York-based client.
The world is a village, as the cliché goes. For me, Ecolint is
where I acquired both an excellent academic foundation to participate,
compete and be productive in that village, and the worldview to
navigate its different cultural and political currents. I have
travelled with both wherever I’ve been, and will carry them on the many
roads before me.
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FOTIS students
Nelson Frank - Tanzania
Jampaiko Huenchual - Chile
Gertrude Nakanwagi - Uganda
Nelson Frank - Tanzania
"Thank you so much
because you are the one who tries to help me to achieve my goals. I’m
(sic) still believe that education is where social and economic
development begins so through education which you help me to obtain it
(sic) I will be able to solve my own problems, my community problems as
well as my Nation’s problems,”
writes Nelson
Frank, 17, from his school in Moshi, Tanzania. As the eldest in a large
family, he had to support them when his father died. He was barely out
of primary school and could not afford secondary school. A WHO worker
told FOTIS about Nelson. Lutheran Pastor Mremi became his mentor and
enrolled him in school locally. His school uniform, tuition, and room
and board are paid directly by FOTIS. When he could not access the
materials he needed for his academic research, FOTIS purchased a PC for
him. Nelson was head
boy for his last year and graduated in February 2008. He now hopes to
go to university to study law.
Jampaiko Huenchual - Chile
Jampaiko Paillal Huenchual, 11, an indigenous Indian from Chile, could
only dream of becoming a veterinarian as the son of poor parents with
very little education. There was no money to send him to secondary
school
until a WTO employee shared his story with FOTIS. He has been studying
at the Educadora Gabriela Mistral School, in Santiago, since 2006. His
mentor, journalist Ximena Alcavil Neculpan, supports him. She says,
“When we bought his books, it was the first time he had stepped into a
bookstore…..taking him away from what he knew has changed his destiny
and reaffirmed his desire to one day attend a university.”
Jampaiko is determined through his education to achieve what his
parents never could. One day he hopes to earn enough money to help his
two younger sisters complete their education.
“It is important to study because
when we have a profession it offers
us a better life,” he writes. FOTIS has given Jampaiko hope and
is
committed to financing his complete secondary education.
Gertrude Nakanwagi - Uganda
When Gertrude Nakanwagi was orphaned by AIDS, she and her siblings were
dispersed among various relatives in their native Uganda and Gertrude
had no hope of any education beyond primary school. Thanks to UN AIDS
worker Joyce Everine Oseku Matovu, FOTIS has been supporting Gertrude
at St. Mary’s School outside Kampala since 2005. Ms. Oseku Matovu,
sends her school bills to FOTIS and receives all her school reports and
encourages her in her work. Today, at 15, she dreams of becoming a
social worker, journalist or environmentalist.
“I pray to God to enable you (sic)
continue to pay my school fees and train me in many things,”she
writes. FOTIS will assist Gertrude until she completes high school.
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Meet our students
Nelson Frank -
Tanzania
Jampaiko Huenchual -
Chile
Gertrude Nakanwagi -
Uganda
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