The head of a Paraguayan study abroad organization visited Emporia State University on Oct. 21. Federico Mora is general coordinator of the National Scholarship Program for Study Abroad or BECAL. The program sends undergraduate and graduate students as well as professionals to top universities and research centers around the world with the promise they will return and use their new knowledge to benefit Paraguay.
The Paraguayan government through BECAL finances a special program for senior undergraduate students from Paraguay to study in Kansas for one semester. The Committee Paraguay Kansas and universities in Kansas, including Emporia State, support the program with the goal of recruiting these students for master’s programs.
Currently, three visiting students — Christian Ohweiler of Hohenau, Micaela Sandoval of Encarnación and José Ibáñez of Luque — are studying biology at Emporia State.
“Emporia State University and Paraguay have a decades long history of cooperation through the Partners of America,” said Mark Daly, ESU dean of international education.
The Teachers College at Emporia State has a student exchange program where U.S. students can student-teach in Paraguay and teachers in Paraguay come to Emporia and teach in Emporia Public Schools. ESU’s Department of Music also has exchange programs.
Mora is a 2019 Latin American and Caribbean Fellow of the Eisenhower Fellowships. During his fellowship, Mora will look for funding strategies and build international partnerships for BECAL.