Founded in 1985 with a focus on micro-credit and entrepreneurship, Fundacion Paraguaya has today become an important player in the educational scene in Paraguay.
Founded after the end of the Paraguayan dictatorship in 1989, Fundacion Paraguaya recognized that, in addition to microcredit needed to stimulate entrepreneurship, education about the country and economy was essential.
The entrepreneurship education program was launched in 1995 in association with the Junior Achievement International so that educated Paraguayan entrepreneurs could compete both in national and global markets.
The Foundation’s primary programs include: Microfinance, Entrepreneurial Education, and Self-Sufficient Schools.
In the Entrepreneurial Education program, students train to become successful entrepreneurs by direct communication with community leaders and business personnel; they learn to build their own business models utilizing human and social capital. This program ensures the participation of various sectors of the economy. It also trains the youth to develop business skills which will encourage economic development, income generation, increased family income, and gender equity in business markets.
Through the Self-Sufficient Schools program, the Foundation focuses on the core asset of the Paraguayan economy, agriculture. Agriculture dominates the national economy and most Paraguayans are engaged in agriculture. Thus, developing methods to sustain agriculture as a food source and as a prime economic asset is essential for the country. The Self-Sufficient Schools program promotes organic farming practices that are environmentally sustainable.
Fundacion Paraguaya’s objectives include:
- Discover and promote the best methods to help poor people with tools to emerge from poverty.
- Bring more low-income entrepreneurs under the microfinance program so that they can become successful business leaders.
- Extend the Entrepreneurial Educational program to more children and youth; develop sustainable sources of income; receive increased funds from advertisers to engage more children in Junior Achievement programs.
- Achieve and maintain financial self-reliance in the Self-Sufficient Schools Program.
- Popularize the model of self-sufficiency and enterprise such that other schools in Paraguay and elsewhere can replicate the model of ‘education that pays for itself’.
Currently, Fundacion Paraguaya functions through 17 regional offices and serves 136 cities. It has chapters in Tanzania and the U.K.
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