SHSKI-sponsored student coming to U.S.

Thanks to the generosity of sponsors in New York City and in Bethesda, Maryland, one of SHSKI's scholarship recipients will come to the United States in January 2002 as an exchange student.

Maria do Bom Parto in Recife, Brazil is in the ninth grade at Colégio Contato. She is an exceptional girl - charismatic, bright, very outgoing and an accomplished dancer of all types of popular Brazilian dances. 

Through conversations with AFS, the oldest and biggest exchange program in the country. They are very excited about working with SHSKI to make it possible to do exchanges with our students; Maria will be the first student. 

As a participant in AFS' Community Service Program, Maria will come to New York City and teach Brazilian dance to low-income children. Maria will be also give presentations about what it was like growing up in a shantytown in Brazil (she lives in the shantytown of Carangueijos in Olinda), a grim place. She will talk about SHSKI and the opportunity that has been given to her. 

Finally, Colégio Contato, the private school Maria attends, has agreed to let her return from the U.S. and continue her tuition-free education - the 10th and 11th grades (Brazilians graduate from high school at the end of the 11th grade). This is a wonderful and unprecedented concession that will allow Maria to complete her education. This is the dream that SHSKI offers to all its sponsored scholars.

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