A dozen Bolivian students will receive scholarships to attend Catholic high school this fall
SEATTLE
On a trip to Cochabamba, Bolivia, to visit her paternal grandparents two summers ago, Casey Benadof jumped at the opportunity to see what a public school there was like for kids her age.
“I was shocked, really taken aback by the conditions,” she said of the tour given by her Bolivian Spanish teacher. “There weren’t any pens or pencils, there was broken furniture, graffiti on the walls … it wasn’t a productive environment.”
As soon as she entered the school, Benadof said, she knew she wanted to help make a difference for the students.
Last year, at age 17, she established the VICO Educational Foundation (vicoeducationalfoundation.org) to provide scholarships so Bolivian students can attend a private Catholic high school in their community. She named the foundation after her Bolivian grandfather, whom she calls Vico. “He is my inspiration,” Benadof said, noting that he has been “really into community service.”
She created the acronym VICO from Spanish words that represent the foundation’s values: virtud (virtue), integridad (integrity), compromise (promise), and oportunidad (opportunity). “Because of my heritage, it means a lot to me,” said Benadof, now a senior at Holy Names Academy.
Giving backDuring her junior year, after suffering “a couple of concussions” while playing on a select soccer team, Benadof found she had more time to bring her scholarship idea to life. She quit soccer last spring, and by the fall she had started drumming up financial support for her foundation from family and friends.
Now she is seeking donations from Catholic schools in the archdiocese.
“Attending Catholic school for most of my life has been instrumental in fostering my commitment to service, by emphasizing the importance of helping others and of living in the image and likeness of God,” Benadof said in a fundraising letter.
Donations to the foundation go directly to scholarships — $600 per student — to cover tuition, books and uniforms. Recipients are selected by the teachers at the Catholic high school in Bolivia.
The foundation supported six students this year, and that will double to 12 students this fall. Assumption-St. Bridget School, Benadof’s alma mater, is sponsoring two students this fall and participating in a pen pal program.
Each student receiving a scholarship must show a determination to excel, maintain above-average grades and be living at or below the country’s poverty level. According to UNICEF, 59 percent of Bolivians live in poverty, making it one of the poorest countries in South America.
In the spirit of community service, the scholarship students are required to help out at a volunteer-run orphanage, through a partnership VICO has established. Every other Sunday after church, the students go together to the orphanage and read to the kids.
“No matter your situation, there’s always someone (poorer) than you are. And these kids have no family,” Benadof said. During a visit to the orphanage last December, she realized the children need role models and a sense of relationship, which the VICO students can offer.
“They (orphans) want to know there are people who care about you,” she said.
Aiming for sustainabilityBenadof’s dad, Walter, guided her through the process of setting up the nonprofit, from navigating government websites to getting advice from an uncle who is a lawyer. Since Benadof was only 17 when she established the organization, her dad serves as its president and she is vice president.
Building the foundation together has been “a really great bonding experience,” she said.
“The idea of a foundation was like an epiphany to Casey,” her father said. “She immediately had a sense of wanting to make a change (for) these children. What I appreciate most is that she put her mind to trying to understand how she could make it happen.”
This fall, Benadof will attend the University of California, San Diego, where she wants to study computer science, math, criminology and psychology. Her sister Maegan, a freshman at HNA, plans to help maintain the foundation while Benadof settles into college.
“We’re working on sustainability,” Benadof said, noting that she hopes more Seattle-area schools, especially high schools, will get involved. Her goal is for the scholarship program “to grow throughout Bolivia,” she said.
Two years after visiting the public school in Cochabamba that inspired her foundation, Benadof is learning about commitment to both donors and beneficiaries, her father said. He hopes the experience also teaches her “the leadership qualities it takes to rally a team of supporters to make her vision of ‘giving’ enjoyable and sustainable.”
May 30, 2013