As inflation continues to impact the global economy, Cuba has seen an exacerbated economic decline which has had a devastating effect on the most vulnerable populations on the island. Amid this challenging environment, the Loyola Centers are offering courses that are aimed at helping community members start new businesses and promote a community of mutual support. 

Thanks to the support of Magis Americas, this program is having a positive impact which continues to expand as more community members get involved. The Loyola Centers’ entrepreneurial workshops give participants the formation necessary to convert talents or hobbies they may have into operable business ventures.  

Ernesto, one of the participants from the Loyola Center – San Miguel del Padrón, touched on this very point in his testimony saying, “starting from a hobby and manual skills I was able to, little by little, give shape to that idea until it became the economically profitable project that I am currently developing.” The continuing education and support found at the centers also helps new entrepreneurs innovate and grow their businesses. 

Ernesto shared his vision for his next step as an entrepreneur saying, “in order to maintain and develop the business, we are trying to expand and diversify production, and to this end we are investing in tools that allow us to achieve greater efficiency and quality.”

Second, the Loyola Centers organize artisan fairs in which the members of the community who participate in the workshop can share their products and publicize their businesses. 

Ninette, who participated in an expo-fair and the entrepreneurial workshops, shared with us, “in my case I was in the entrepreneurship workshop, as I was able to learn more about how to run my own business. Although I worked at home as a manicurist, in the workshops I was motivated to participate in the expo fairs promoted at the Loyola Center.”

The sense of community that these workshops provide helps to motivate and reassure community members as they navigate the difficult economic environment. “The partnerships we have been able to establish are another of the benefits obtained from the workshop and the Center’s fairs,” Ernesto explains. As one example he shared that, “the wooden articles made in my business are very versatile, which has allowed us to link up with other craftsmen and women. We are currently making wooden boxes for another business that sells ornamental plants and wooden displays for a store that sells a variety of handicrafts.”

Finally, perhaps the most encouraging example of this community of entrepreneurs is their desire to give back to the community that helped impulse their own growth. Ernesto shared his experience saying, “After my participation in the project I continued my training in the exciting world of entrepreneurship and currently I work as a collaborator of the Center, and I teach the entrepreneurship workshop to share and help other people in the community who, like me, have a business idea and need tools to enable its implementation.” 

Similarly, Ninette has also transitioned from student to teacher in the manicure and pedicure course at the Loyola Center. She told us, “I love this job and I like to collaborate in this project, since it allows many people to develop in this occupation and in other activities, as is the case of many young women and mothers without any work ties.”

In the Central Department of Paraguay, along the border with Argentina, in the city of Asunción, you can find the Escuela Caacupemí de Fe y Alegría. This school serves a community called Bañado Norte. There is no running water at the school. Some students walk 45 minutes down dirt paths to attend classes. But they have families and teachers who believe that students not only have the right to basic living conditions, but also the right to education.

If you visit this little school, off the main road and right along the Paraguay river, you might run into Johana. Her favorite subject is math. She gets into fights with her younger sister over toys. She wants to be a teacher when she grows up. She loves school because she enjoys learning.

Or you may have the chance to meet Iván. He has four sisters. He loves school because it gives him a safe space to play and learn math (that’s his favorite subject too). When he is older, he wants to be “an important lawyer” so he knows that school is key to achieving that dream.

Unfortunately, Johana and Iván aren’t always able to attend school. Sometimes the Escuela Caacupemí de Fe y Alegría is closed by flooding. Other times they can’t make it down the unpaved roads that lead to the school. And even when they do, the utilities are less than reliable.

When the Paraguay River swells during the rainy season, the Bañado Norte floods, and the 100,000 other residents of the neighborhood are forced to abandon their homes as the water can reach 12-15 feet high. With climate change, these floods are only increasing in strength and frequency.

But 23 years ago, before Fe y Alegría arrived, there was no school in this neighborhood at all. The community was disconnected from resources and opportunities available in other parts of Asunción. They began to ask themselves: How could a school in this area of the world manage to prosper? How can students such as Johana and Iván find it a place of security, learning, hope, and community?

The answer they found was remarkably simple – it was mothers. A group of mothers rallied together to begin this center of learning. Twenty-three years ago, it was mothers who led the push for education and who continue to be the leaders both in the school and the community.

One of these mothers is Selva.

Today, she is the director of the school. She started as a volunteer 23 years ago and has never left. Her dream for the school is for each student’s right to education to be respected and care for our common home to be central to that education. Her goal for the community is to build the next generation of leaders. These future leaders are Johana and Iván. Fe y Alegría and the school are central to achieving that goal.

As Johana and Iván dream of becoming a teacher and a lawyer, and as their classmates have similar hopes for the future, Selva is an example of what the right to education does not just for one person, but for a whole community.

This is the inspiring impact that Fe y Alegría schools have throughout the Global South. This network of schools is driven by the Jesuits and committed to providing education to the marginalized and in areas where the asphalt literally ends. Fe y Alegría schools do not just provide a service to their students, they lift up whole communities and overcome all kinds of unique challenges. These schools plant deep roots in their communities. So deep that even flood waters cannot wash away the hope and promise they inspire.