Queen of Spain welcomes young Peruvians on scholarships to go to university

The Queen of Spain, Letizia, met this Wednesday in Madrid with a group of young Colombians and Peruvians with scarce resources that, thanks to a scholarship from the Microfinance Foundation BBVAwill be able to access university studies.

During the audience, the Queen spoke with these six young people, all of them children of vulnerable entrepreneurs from Colombia and Peru, the Royal Household of Spain reported.

Between the ages of 17 and 23, they have received the foundation’s scholarship for being “example of motivation and perseverance”.

The young people talked about their professional aspirations and how they plan to take advantage of the scholarship, which covers university tuition and maintenance during their studies in their countries of origin.

All of them, beneficiaries of the project Transforming RealitiesThey told stories of overcoming difficulties, such as walking for hours to get to their school.

Jhonatan Ríos, an 18-year-old Peruvian, son of a merchant, assured EFE that the “Economic factor“It is one of the challenges that he has had to continue studying.

Luis Arias, from Colombia, will begin studying Philosophy: “To the youth of my country I say that there is still hope to achieve what they want; investigate, because there are many companies that give young people the opportunity to study..

This 23-year-old, son of a small businesswoman, told EFE that he is the first in his family to go to university.

Colombian Danna Pérez said that being selected is a help for her and her family: “I signed up five minutes before the form closed and here I am, it is a great blessing for us.”.

She is 19 years old, the daughter of an entrepreneur who works as a seamstress and, through the scholarship, will study Systems Engineering.

“We have been working with their parents for 17 years, trying to give them capital and financing for their small businesses to be able to get ahead.“said Javier Flores, director of the foundation.

“We understand that education is a fundamental tool that opens the window of opportunities for better life options.“, he added.

The president of the Spanish financial institution BBVA, Carlos Torres Vila, accompanied them at the meeting with Queen Letizia held at the Zarzuela Palace.

The foundation was created in 2007 and has since served more than six million low-income entrepreneurs in five Latin American countries, with approximately US$20 billion disbursed.

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