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Since she was a little girl, Alba Jeanette Collart Dinarte dreamed of going to school and obtaining a college education. Alba is from Honduras and the odds were against her. With an estimated per capita gross domestic product of $1,800, Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, with about 65 percent of the population living in poverty.
 Mary Ellen Flather,
Director of Institutional Advancement, Zamorano, Washington, DC
(12/20/10 -
mp3) |
Still, Alba was determined not to give up on her dream. She excelled in
her studies and, at age 17, received the exciting news that she had been
admitted to the Zamorano Pan American School of Agriculture. Although Alba’s
family was not financially able to pay for her studies, Alba enrolled anyway
in the hope of somehow obtaining a scholarship.
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“Zamorano gave me the attitude and perseverance to achieve
practically anything I can imagine.”
During Alba’s second year of college, the scholarship she had been hoping for became a reality. In May 2005, Zamorano and USDA signed a Food for Progress (FFPr) agreement in which USDA provided more than 9,000 metric tons of wheat to the college. Zamorano sold the U.S. wheat in Honduras and used the $1.6 million in proceeds to fund scholarships in 2006 and 2007 for 143 Honduran students—more than half the Honduran student population. These individuals would have been unable to continue their education without the scholarship. Overall, 34 percent of the recipients were women, and Alba was one of them. The financial assistance Alba’s family received from this USDA scholarship program enabled them to pay her tuition expenses.
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Alba Jeanette Collart Dinarte hoists the Golden Cup awarded to her for best academic achievement at Zamorano.
Photo Credit: Andrea Perry, Donor Communications Manager, Zamorano. |
She was able to complete her studies at Zamorano and graduated in 2007, receiving the highest honor the college bestows on its graduating students: the Golden Cup for best academic achievement. Alba had a 3.36 grade-point average and obtained a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness management. In addition, during her fourth year of studies at Zamorano, Alba had the opportunity to intern at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
Alba’s high academic achievement and determination led to a graduate assistantship at Texas A&M University, where she obtained a master’s degree in agricultural economics in December 2009. Alba is currently pursuing a doctorate degree at Texas A&M. She plans to return to Honduras when she finishes her studies and hopes to contribute to sustainable agricultural initiatives in her country.
This FFPr project will have a significant impact on Honduras over the mid- and long-term. Many of the individuals who graduate from college, thanks to this program, are dedicated, energized, and talented young professionals, who are ready to contribute to public- and private-sector rural development in Honduras.
The FFPr program is administered by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service and is authorized by the Food for Progress Act of 1985.
For more information about the FFPr program go to
http:///www.fas.usda.gov/excredits/FoodAid/FFP/foodforprogress.asp.
For more information about Zamorano, go to
http://www.zamorano.edu/
