Student expands passion for Spanish on full Rotary scholarship to Ecuador

In a photograph, Jennifer Kuchno sits
on a thin, wooden plank in the Amazon
rainforest surrounded by children from
an east Ecuadorian village.

Each child looks ecstatic about the
donated school supplies she’s brought
from the Rotary Club.

As the children pose with her,
Kuchno’s arms extend around them;
they grin cavity-filled smiles and have
protruding bellies – side effects of their
impure water supplies.

“The village kids . all had visible
cavities (and) protruding bellies, which
. is characteristic of severe diarrhea
caused by drinking unclean water,”
Kuchno states in her blog. “As I have
traveled around (Ecuador) as a rotary
scholar, I have seen this problem everywhere.
They are in dire need of clean,
safe drinking water.”

Experiences with the children during
her three-month-stay in Ecuador
reinforced Kuchno’s passion to leave
VCU to expand her fluency in Spanish
and her passion for the culture and the
people.

“It truly touches my heart to give, to
help make a difference,” Kuchno stated
in an email. “I wish I could do more.”

Since her first trip, during which she
invested much of her time at non profit
organizations, Kuchno has received a
full scholarship from the Central and
Eastern Virginia Rotary Club.

Kuchno, a Spanish major at VCU,
currently lives in Quito, Ecuador, and
studies seven hours a day at the Academia
de Espanol Quito, as well as volunteers
at ABEI, a foundation for handicapped
children, and at the Refugio de los
Sueños, which means “the shelter of
dreams.”

At both of these non profit organizations,
Kuchno serves as a translator,
disperses donated materials and plans
children’s activities, among other
responsibilities.

Kuchno is a VCU alumna who
received her master’s degree in teaching
and a bachelor’s degree in both sociology
and anthropology in 1993. Kuchno
said that after she taught elementary
school for seven years, she discovered
her passion for Spanish as she began to
volunteer as a teacher for English as a
Second Language classes.

Kuchno said this love for Spanish led
her to complete Old Dominion University’s
applied linguistics, or Teachers of
English as a Second Language, program,
as well as to pursue her undergraduate
degree in Spanish at VCU.

“Now, my plan is to teach ESL to
Latinos in my community and to finish
my Spanish degree at VCU before applying
to a doctorate program in education,”
Kuchno stated. “My professional goal is
to be a university professor.”

Kuchno’s passion for Spanish led her
to look beyond the classroom and apply
for the Rotary Ambassadorial Cultural
Scholarship. Kuchno went through a
rigorous application process and was
selected by District 7600 of the Rotary
Club, which includes the Richmond
Rotary clubs, for her scholarship. The
scholarship covered her travel, tuition,
room and board.

“The purpose of the Rotary Cultural
Scholarship is to support world understanding
and peace,” Kuchno said. “I
have two objectives: to study Spanish and
to serve as an ambassador of goodwill
to support the Rotary ideal of ‘service
above self.’ “

In addition to her volunteer work
at the nonprofits and her academic
focus, Kuchno said, she has fought
to improve the living conditions in
Ecuador. Kuchno said her main focus of
improvement has been to act as a liaison
between the Club Rotario de Quito Norte
– the Quito Rotary club – and Bon Air
Rotary, her sponsor club.

“I am hoping to help the Quito Club receive a … grant for a potable water project that will
enable rural Ecuadorian schools to offer clean, safe drinking water to their communities,”
Kuchno said. “Many children die each year as a result of drinking contaminated water.”

Kuchno said her personal desire to see Ecuadorians have clean water was fueled by
her realization that she personally took for granted the cleanliness of water in the United
States.

“Water is a basic human need, and my trip to Ecuador made me keenly aware that sadly,
clean, safe drinking water is a luxury that not everyone in the world can afford,” Kuchno
said. “As an American, I have taken potable, safe water for granted. But now, I know that
it’s not like that everywhere.”
Kuchno encourages all students to apply for the Rotary scholarships.

“I cannot say enough about the Rotary scholarship program – it is amazing. I highly
recommend the Rotary program to the VCU community,” Kuchno said. “It is not difficult
to apply, and if you are a qualified candidate, your odds are quite good of being selected
for a scholarship.”

Kuchno said she would be happy to talk with and assist anyone interested in applying.
“I am proud to be a VCU alumna, and I want people to know what a truly great school
VCU is,” Kuchno said. “There are excellent students at VCU who can not only compete in
major scholarship competitions but can win. I think they just need to be shown the way.”

For more information on scholarships and how to apply, go to rotary.org
and select “Students and Youth” and “Ambassadorial Scholarships.” Or, for
the local Rotary club, visit rotary7600.org.