Anna’s life began to fall apart when she was three years old. Her mother and grandfather died, her father left never to return, and she and her brother were left in her grandmother’s care. A “bad streak” began and lasted for almost a decade. But Anna’s desire to learn had been with her since birth. His enthusiasm for studies permeated everything and devoting himself to it served as an “escape route”. An excellent student, he also believed that (good) grades were a way of seeing his efforts rewarded. However, when she was at the gates of the university, she began to feel that the extent of her efforts were not going to be reciprocated “by the state, by society”, and frustration grew within her. .
Mar, also an excellent student, was at the same stage of study when she began to assume, also out of frustration, that if she wanted to go to college and fulfill her dream of studying law, she would have to graduate in a more specialized discipline. years than usual. Due to her family’s economic situation, headed solely by her mother, she would be forced to work while continuing her studies in order to contribute to the household.
Anna and Mar are part of those statistics that describe the educational journey as an obstacle course for people born into a modest family in Spain. Anna and Mar, according to the data, started from the bottom up with a 48.8% chance of repeating a year between primary and secondary school. Their risk of eventually dropping out of school was between 20 and 40%. They are part of the 30% of young people who go to college, but do not have a parent with a “prestigious, well-paid” job and they could have been part of it. 15% of university students who work while studying. Obtaining the title could have cost them up to three times as much as a wealthy colleague, according to statistics.
This is why Anna’s grandmother, whom she deeply admires for her “tenacity”, and Mar’s mother, who had to raise her children alone, felt that things were starting to improve when a foundation, then unknown to them, was born. their lives to fully assume and more than the university expenses of young women: the Dádoris Foundation.
“We created Dádoris for two reasons: firstly, we are people who have been treated well by life. The 25 founders were able to progress in our careers. It was firstly a question of gratitude. The second factor was that we all had an interest in ensuring that certain values were not lost. We believe that society must not stop valuing the importance of talent, the need for effort and generosity,” says Pedro Alonso Gil, president of the foundation.
Gil argues that although much public opinion currently presents a critical view of meritocracy because “it doesn’t work perfectly and there are people who take many nefarious shortcuts”, for others “there is no alternative”: “For them, of course for the moment, it is the only way. Those who have personal relationships find others. “So-and-so’s uncle, who is a friend of… But these other young people don’t have that handle.”
Putting the “chain of favors” concept into practice
The principle of its initiative, launched in 2018, was as follows: to look for “brilliant” students, but having serious difficulties in successfully continuing their studies, in order, thanks to the help of patrons and volunteers who would support the project, comfortably ensure them a good university education. As the foundation would have no staff to pay – those involved would work on a voluntary basis – and would not need to invest in administration or marketing, any money invested in Dádoris would go entirely to these students.
They also decided that they would not get any public resources and that 100% of their income would come from civil society. None of the donations from the different natural or legal persons involved could represent more than 7% to 8% of the total funds in order to guarantee the independence and stability of the project – so that the withdrawal of a sponsor does not cause the project to fail. . . It’s like this: the first year, there were a few volunteers, around thirty donors and five award-winning students. This year, there are already 256 volunteers, more than 600 donors and 76 students rewarded.
They operate under the “chain of favors” concept, which is why, to accept the award, young people must commit to volunteering around 50 hours per year. Additionally, they are expected (although not obligated) to help other students who may find themselves in a similar situation upon completion of their studies. “We tell them that they do not have to thank us, because we do it in gratitude for the values and support we received from our parents, and with this we have fulfilled our debt. If they owe a debt, it is not to us, but to the children who, in 20 or 30 years, may need a helping hand. It’s a question of sustainability», assures Alonso Gil.
Many profiles at high risk of social exclusion have passed through the foundation, such as people who grew up in host families, young people whose families arrived in Spain by boat or others belonging to the gypsy group, as one of the winners, who is said to be on his way to becoming the country’s first Gypsy judge.
Another remarkable profile is that of Amina Ashkat, a young woman who arrived in Spain at the age of 12 with her Kazakh mother and brother. “This girl is now in 4th grade [Universidad] Charles III [de Madrid] studies engineering physics and created an association present in 40 countries called Girls IN STEM (as science, technology, engineering and mathematics studies are called, for its acronym in English), a non-profit organization whose objective is to enable girls to join different scientific fields, with more than 4,500 women who have already participated in its activities,” says the president of Dádoris.
Requirements requested by the foundation and resources it offers
These awards are aimed at young people who have completed their secondary education in Spain, with talent and brilliant results (average of excellent, exceeding 9.5), the ambition to access university studies and centers of excellence and whose family income does not exceed threshold 1 of the Administration. (around 5,500 euros of annual income per member of the family unit). Exceptionally, students who are already pursuing higher studies, who obtain excellent results, but who are experiencing negative economic situations which prevent them from completing their studies, could also be entitled to it. The call for the following awards opened on November 3 and will close at the end of February next year.
Winners receive up to 9,000 euros per year (as applicable) for accommodation, food, household expenses, transportation, required academic materials, etc., and other resources such as a tutor ( who will take care of their academic needs), a mentor (who will help them in your integration into the university world, will guide you and will be responsible for following you and supporting you), and additional training (language courses, Erasmus, internships, work in top-notch companies…).
“There are boys and girls who come from unstructured or struggling families, and when a young person has difficulties, they turn to their family or their environment. But here there are times when the family is not that they don’t want to help them, but that they can’t. Most of them are the first university students in their families and therefore do not have such references. The tutor gives advice,” explains Aurelio Medel Vicente, volunteer and tutor at the foundation.
A way to break cycles of poverty
After studying philosophy, politics and economics at Pompeu Fabra, Anna Llano worked in a consulting firm, in the Sustainable Development department. He chose this career and this department because, he says, he needs to have a holistic approach to the world. His life has changed radically. It gives her “a feeling of horrible injustice” to know that there are people who cannot access a better future because of their economic situation and, she says, this serves as an impetus for her to contribute to improving this situation in the decades to come: “If I stayed “Only in anger would I be a sad person all my life, so I prefer to try to make my contribution too.”
Mar Campos, after choosing law because she considers it “social work” – a lawyer, she says, almost fulfills the function of a “psychologist” in solving many family headaches – and after studying At Oxford University, she found herself completing the Masters in Access to the Legal Profession. He imagines the future in an international office. She assures that she feels privileged, because “unjust situations occur repeatedly”, and her desire is to raise awareness of the foundation and continue to help. He is grateful for the peace of mind he was able to have during his studies, which allowed him to enjoy it “100%” by not having to dedicate himself to working at the same time to contribute financially to his family.
Alonso Gil recalls one of the conversations he had recently with some of the winners which, he says, sums up the spirit of Dádoris, a name that comes from the name for “to give” in Portuguese (giver), created by the poet and name giver Fernando Beltrán—: “The other day I told them: ‘There will come a time when you will be forty years old and you will have many responsibilities. Maybe you will already pay the mortgage and have a standard of living in which it will seem to you that being a member of the country club, playing golf, traveling or having the gold card is something essential, and you will think where will you find it? hundred euros to help me. Well, that will be your dilemma: whether you want to continue helping or not. But in that moment, just remember how you felt the day you were told you could continue your education. When someone who didn’t know you at all said to you: ‘We’re betting on you.’
