What good can one person do against extreme poverty in a Central American country? A considerable amount, if you believe that education can overcome poverty, if you have a passion to help, and if you are Tony Gasbarro.

During his Peace Corps assignment in a remote village in El Salvador, Tony found his life’s vocation: helping poor rural children get a high school education. No one from La Monatñona had gone to high school because village families could not afford the $150yr. needed for books, fees, and uniforms. When he left in October 1998, Tony promised the village leaders that he would find funding for every student from the village who wanted to attend high school. The Scholarship Program was launched. Tony committed his "retirement" to this work, and, amazingly, his scholarships now assist students in 35 villages in northern and western El Salvador.

The program places a particular emphasis on reaching out to girls. In rural areas, girls have not been encouraged to attend school. Their place has traditionally been in the home. Nonetheless, studies show that an educated woman yields benefits that reach far beyond themselves, extending to their families, their communities, and even the wider society. A woman with six or more years of education is more likely to seek prenatal care, assisted childbirth, and postnatal care, reducing the risk of maternal and child mortality and illness. Educated women are fifty percent more likely to immunize their children, to send their children to school, and to become community leaders. In El Salvador, many households are headed by women as a result of the recent Civil War and migration.

Tony has raised enough funds to allow the program to expand from eight students in 1998 to over 230 in 2008. Seventy percent of the scholarships are given to young women. The program is also providing scholarships at the university level to fourteen young women and one young man. Tony is committed to university scholarships for all interested high school graduates.

In the last decade, Tony has inspired students in over 400 presentations at schools, universities, and community and church groups. He brings the lives of poor children in tropical Central America into the consciousness of kids who wear parkas at recess. And the kids are inspired. One teacher commented: "They seemed to get what it must be like to be poor; I was impressed by their interest in getting involved." Today many of these students exchange mail with their counterparts in El Salvador.

Tony envisioned an organizational structure providing continuity and maximum local control. He collaborates with Project Salvador (www.projectsalvador) a U.S non-profit whose mission is to "aid the people of El Salvador in their own system of social justice." He works with the Carmelite Missionary Sisters, the Association for Life and Progress, Association for Human Development and the Center for Arts for Peace, all Salvadoran non-profit organizations. These organizations work with local community leaders, helping to administer the program and monitor the progress of the students.