Hurray! It’s Friday – and not just any Friday, but Friday the 13th! Are we suffering from Friggatriskaidekaphobia? No way! We think 13 is a lucky number – and Friday is always a good karma day for us.
Why? At Vittana, we look forward to Fridays because we get to look back at the week, and see how many students and lenders we’ve been able to connect, and that’s when the good karma reaches a high point. So, every Friday from here on out at Vittana is officially good karma Friday.
This week, because of our amazing lenders, we were able to fund 10 more students.
There is a Peruvian proverb – “little by little, one walks far” – that really resonated with us this week. Each week, more students appear on Vittana, and each week, lenders find a student, fund them, and new opportunities are born. 10 more hard working, deserving individuals now have the opportunity to finish their education. That’s the kind of karma that works. That’s the kind we want to keep delivering.
We know it works, because our students are working hard to make the most out of the new opportunities they’ve been given. We love it when we get updates from our students – their stories, where we learn more about them and the incredible progress they are making. This makes us smile, gets us excited, and builds hope. Step by step, loan by loan, we are all making a difference.
To help celebrate Friday, we pulled out a great update from one of our students – Scarlett, who is really working to make the most of her opportunities. Hard work and hope keep her going. As our friend Katie says, ” It’s hope that keeps you human.” Scarlett is an example of what happens when you throw opportunity into the mix, as well.
Scarlett Constansa Aguirre Ramos
Scarlett is an incredible Vittana student. She lives in Nicaragua, already has a degree in medicine and has been practicing for about 10 years. Scarlett believes strongly in serving those who have less. She travels a few times a week to smaller towns to visit her poorer patients who cannot come to her.
Scarlett's plans post-graduation include a free walk-in clinic for poorer patients.
Given that many can only pay for the visit OR a prescription, Scarlett often visits her patients for free, offering needed care and health education classes as well.
When she completes her specialization in pharmacy with her Vittana loan, she will not have to pay an outside pharmacist to handle formulating her prescriptions, and will better be able to serve her patients by providing all the services they need – even if they are unable to pay for them.
In her “spare” time, Scarlett is also taking English classes and spends time with her two daughters.
That’s amazing! A working mom, who already goes out of her way to take care of others, now seeks even more opportunities to use education to not only help herself, but others in her community as well. That’s inspiring, and we want to thank Scarlett’s lenders who helped pay it forward to make this happen.
Inspired? Read more about Scarlett here, or find a student like her to lend to here.
Cheers! -Lisa
{ 1 comment }
Is there a way for someone like me and many others within the Deaf Community to support concept by making loans specifically to the deaf?
Comments on this entry are closed.