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The Hager Hanger Club Foundation helps people reach their potential
through educational grants and scholarships
The foundation is based in the San Francisco Bay Area
The Foundation also operates around seven hundred miles away from the Bay Area
in the Mexican state of Baja California
in the rural village of San Matias
it is so rural, that searching for "San Matias"
in either Google or Bing maps
fails to find a place in that location
Once you enter the village there are no paved roads
many villagers live in poverty
and previously children at the village had limited prospects
the best people could hope for was a seasonal job working in the fields
or on highway construction
earning at most ten dollars a day
however now
children of the village are supported to fulfill their potential
thanks to funding from the foundation
These are secondary school children in San Matias
Education for many children stops at age fourteen
typically kids graduate from secondary
and then start working
although many drop out of school early
to work in the fields or look after family members
high school is a luxury
Thanks to the Hager Foundation
the Preparatory school (similar to high school) is not an impossibility
Jim: "How many of you want to go to preparatory?"
Jim: "Is this a yes?"
Jim: "OK, you all want to go to preparatory. Who wants to go to university?"
This is Samuel
the foundation's "man on the ground"
He is originally from San Matias and now lives in the nearby city of Mexicali
He has a good rapport with the staff at the local schools
San Matias and Valle Trinidad schools provide education for the village students
sponsored by the foundation
Samuel deals with all paperwork, handles bills and monitors the students
grades and progress
to ensure students stay on the path to success
The foundation sponsorship doesn't stop at the preparatory school
The foundation also awards scholarships to students going to university
You're about to meet three of our current students
This is Edgar who has completed one year of a four year culinary degree and hopes to work
in the food industry
This is Juan, who is half way through an agriculture degree
and hopes to manage and oversee farms when he graduates
farming is becoming a corporate operation in Mexico
and so this new agribusiness is now looking for educated people to run and
manage farms
he is attending the university Autonoma of Baja California
At the same university which is in Esenada, is Korina
Korina has been studying medicine for three years and hopes to be
a surgeon after graduating in two years time
Due to the strength of the US dollar
medical degree expenses in Mexico are a fraction of the cost of a medical
degree in the US
Korina's school fees are under seven thousand dollars (US) per year
Korina's twin sister Karina is studying architecture at
university del Valle de Mexico, in Mexicali
as well as managing preparatory school students
Samuel also manages university student paperwork, billing, and progress reports
Samuel was a recipient of a Hager Foundation scholarship
He is one of the first graduates of the program
and to say thank you he has been volunteering for the foundation
since he graduated from university as an accountant in 2001
This is Elias, Olga, Samuel, and Nidia visiting the Bay Area in the Fall
of 2001
after they graduated
They were the first recipients of scholarships for preparatory school
All four students then went to study accounting
at university to become CPAs
All graduated with grades B or above
They were the first people from San Matias to attend university
Elias on the left now lives in the state Chihuahua and administers the finances
of eighty churches and fourteen schools
Samuel and his wife Olga married after graduation. They were childhood
sweethearts and have started a family
Here you can see Nidia
her daughter Nadia,
Korina,
Samuel, his daughter Zulie,
and Olga
Nidia is a CPA who has started a convenience store out of her home
she's directing her entrepreneurial spirit and financial knowledge
to providing services to her local community, while she is a stay-at-home
mom
Professionally Samuel is a CPA and Olga now works as a liaison for a church
Thanks to the vision of Jim Hager and his Foundation
the success and involvement of past graduates
and the ambition of current students, the prospects are brighter for rural Mexico.