As the son of two Peruvian Army officers during the era of terrorism in the 1990s, my childhood was full of fears and uncertainty. Nonetheless, my grandmother, Sabina, taught me how education is key to our country’s betterment.
Thanks to her, I was able to study at one of Peru’s best universities. Still, many kids and teenagers from the slums do not go to school, and instead
work from a young age. They jump onto buses with small boxes of candy, a musical instrument, or a comedic act at hand to vie for money. I discovered that being the best in the class is useless if your efforts do not benefit others. That was when my grandma smiled and told me I should help her hometown of El Tambo. I accepted her challenge to become a changemaker.
I decided to help build a library there and secured funding from IBM Peru, where I was interning at the time. After a nine-hour drive from Lima’s capital and some mountain climbing, we finally arrived at El Tambo and were warmly welcomed by hundreds of kids. I particularly remember a 10-year- old girl named Rosita. I asked her, “What do you aspire to be in the future?” She said, “I have no choice but to become a farmer like my parents and everyone else in El Tambo.” After hearing this, I felt so shocked my heart started burning. To end the poverty cycle for millions of kids in South America, we need quality education to teach them how to build their own future.
After a week in El Tambo, I went back to Lima to share everything I learned with my grandma. Sadly, that day, December 2, 2011, Grandma Sabina passed away. This was a day full of loss and pain, but also reflection and growth. I promised my grandma in heaven that I would be a change agent for a better Peru. With that motivation, I founded Vive Tu Futuro (Live Your Future). The NGO has helped nearly 5,000 students in 13 public schools learn valuable skills to achieve their dreams. I realized my dream is to inspire youths to be the best version of themselves and make a difference in the world.
In 2020, before the pandemic, I went back to El Tambo to organize a Vive Tu Futuro workshop. I was pleasantly surprised to see their first computer lab in the library, set up without our help. Then I heard someone call my name. It was Rosita, now 17 years old. She said, “Jason, I found my dream. I want to become a civil engineer, build bridges to connect El Tambo, and improve life for everyone!”