Thinking Big: Fox Leadership Students Take on Poverty in Paraguay
November 21, 2003
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A group of students in the College’s Fox Leadership Program are seeking to put their leadership skills to work to effect change in an impoverished community in Paraguay. The planned “Think Big Initiative” will bring 25 students to the town of Tobatí to carry out a range of projects designed to improve the health and quality of life of people throughout the region.
Tobatí, a provincial area situated 40 miles east of the nation’s capital, Asuncion, has a population of approximately 21,000 – 75% of which is under the age of 19. Over 33% of the population lives on less than $1 a day, and 70% live on less than $2 a day. Over half of the houses in the region lack running water and electricity.
The Fox Leadership students are focusing their efforts on health and education. Benjamin Cruse, Student Director of the Fox Leadership Program, notes that because of the disproportionately youthful population, “slight improvements in these areas could catalyze a vast set of changes in the community.”
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The students plan to travel to Tobatí in May of 2004. There they will contribute funding and labor for the construction of four wells, so that the community can have clean drinking water, and four public restrooms to address a lack of appropriate facilities. The group will collect and distribute shoes to children to reduce diseases that result from parasites entering the body through the feet. The Fox students also are raising funds to support construction of a new wing of the hospital. In addition, the group plans to collect and distribute children’s books written in English. Knowledge of English is required for admission to Paraguayan universities, and there is no access to English language instruction in Tobatí; presently, virtually no students from this region are able to go on to college.
To carry out the proposals, the Fox Think Big Initiative is seeking to raise $48,000 to fund transportation costs and the construction projects. Cruse is optimistic that the initiative will “make a difference in the lives of the Tobateños,” noting that the group of volunteers is “experienced in community service and understands the value of giving back to our global community.”
Dedicated to imbuing College undergraduates with the theories, principles, and applications of leadership, the Fox Leadership Program offers students in the College innovative programming and challenges them to take on roles as leaders, tutors, and mentors. The Fox Think Big Initiative will be completed within the framework of the long-term work of Team Tobatí, an organization based out of the Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford, Connecticut. Team Tobatí has been engaged in the Tobatí community since 1999 and already has a number of accomplishments to its credit including construction of a literacy center and providing funds for construction and equipment for the medical clinic.
For more information or to learn how to support the Fox Tobatí initiative, contact Benjamin Cruse at blcruse@sas.upenn.edu or 215-746-2832.