Diego Vera to Receive “Ecuador Triunfador” (“Triumphant Ecuador”) Award
This Espol Student Stands Out for His Social Work in Depressed Areas of the City
Martha Torres Moreno - Guayaquil
When he was small, he would help his friends who had bad grades in school and would encourage them to become better students.
Since the age of 14, as a youth sponsored by Children International, Diego Vera has not only supported low-income children and youth so they can continue to study, but he also trains them to become community Readers who help solve problems in their surroundings.
Now, at age 20, the seventh-semester student at the School of Economics and Business (FEN) of the
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Higher Politechnical School of the Coast (Espol) is considered to be one of the most outstanding youth leaders from the area of Bastión Popular, where he lives with his humble family.
Working to help others is his greatest business card, as are the results he has achieved through instilling good habits in the residents of this vast slum on the northeast side of the city.
He never hesitated to pick up a broom and a shovel to kick off cleaning campaigns in the dusty, trash-strewn streets. His neighbors followed his example, and now they don’t just want to beautify the entrances to their homes, but also the yards – which in the wintertime turn into breeding grounds of infection. |
An example. Diego Vera has become an example to children, teens and adults who see in him a leader who is always ready to help solve problems in the community.
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Three years ago, he won the presidency of the local Children International Youth Council in a democratic election. His mission was to continue to develop new leaders to assume greater responsibility and to watch over the needs of the community.
He was able to encourage and motivate young people to overcome the obstacles of poverty and work to help others do the same. “I always tell them not to wait for help from the government, but to get ahead by their own abilities and capabilities.”
But that was not his only job. With a budget of $20,000 given by the organization, he launched several
microenterprise projects and a number of social and cultural activities that take place in August, which is Youth Month.
He’s happy to have trained 200 young people to manage a business and to have awarded funds for some of them to open a market stall, an auto mechanics shop or a store.
“The young people we train hold jobs where they not only hold important positions, but are also leaders in their workplaces,” he states with satisfaction.
Currently he is training 30 young people between the ages of 12 and 19 to be in charge of developing and executing community projects. |
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A leader. He represented the nation at the International Youth Conference for sponsored youth of Children
International, which was held in the United States
two years ago. |
He also serves on Children International’s HOPE cholarship committee, where he is in charge of selecting the young people who will benefit.
But Diego doesn’t just work with youth. Whenever he has the chance, he talks with moms about what kinds of activities to undertake to make the community a better place, and how to help those who are going through hard times.
He is especially involved in an internal recycling program that tries to create awareness about caring for the environment. The money raised by selling recycled material is handed out as prizes to stimulate people through investment and emergency projects.
His future project is to continue working, but in a spiritual area. “I want the community to be at peace with itself and with others,” remarks the young man, whose broad, unselfish efforts to help others will receive recognition this month from the Nobis Corporation, which hosts the “Ecuador Triunfador” values campaign.
Photos by Jimmy Negrete / Expreso
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