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NEW! Christmas cards and presents from Santa Maria!
Click here for more details!
or follow the Star to go straight to the Christmas pages
The Santa Maria Education Fund
Santa María de Fe (Saint Mary of Faith) was a thriving Jesuit Reduction (or mission) in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but today is a small town of around 4,000 people and massive unemployment.
The Santa Maria Education Fund was begun in 2001 by English journalist Margaret Hebblethwaite, to help with the costs of tertiary education among the rural poor in the village where she lives in the south of Paraguay.
It is a charity registered in the UK (number 1105031).
The picture is taken from the series of hangings made by the women of Santa María to commemorate the Christian Agrarian Leagues - the Ligas Agrarias Cristianas cruelly suppressed by the Stroessner regime. Click the links below to find out more.
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The Santa Maria Education Fund supports a variety of projects, mostly but not exclusively at tertiary level. So far it has helped to fund the following:
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• the Santa María Institute, which offers tertiary education to the poor at no cost. |
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• scholarships to the Universidad Católica, for a few of the most able young people. |
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• fares, boarding costs and entrance exam fees to the Universidad Nacional. |
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• expenses for other courses including training in Agricultural Technology, in Motor Mechanics, in Microelectronics, in Dance, in Guitar, and in Tourism. |
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• course materials and examination fees in English. |
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• fares for students to participate in the Parlamento Joven, or Youth Parliament. |
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• the purchase of a new building for the Institute. Click here for a bigger picture and more details. |
Much more information on the following pages:
| More information about the students funded by SMEF |
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These beautiful images are available as Christmas Cards, sold in aid of the Santa Maria Education Fund.
ckick on any photo to go to this year's page |
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There are also many lovely Christmas gifts available via the craft pages! | |
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click below to go to to other pages
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