From Cadaniño to University—and Beyond
- timothy martiny
- 10 hours ago
- 5 min read
Ten years ago, when Cadaniño first began serving children in a small garage, many of our students were just seven or eight years old.
As the years passed, people would often ask us, “What will you do when they get older?”
What happens when they finish primary school? Middle school? High school? And then what?
Our answer has always been the same: we will walk alongside our students for as long as they need us and see what God will do when the time comes.
From the beginning, our mission has been about much more than helping children succeed in school. We want to help each student discover the gifts and abilities God has given them, develop those gifts to their greatest potential, and ultimately use them to glorify God and serve others.
For a seven-year-old, that might begin with learning to read, getting help with homework, discovering an aptitude for technology, or simply having teachers who believe in them and encourage them to keep going.
But children grow up. And as Cadaniño celebrates ten years of ministry, we are seeing how years of consistent investment can open doors to new opportunities. Students who first came to us as young children are now graduating from high school, pursuing careers, and attending university.
Preparing for the Next Step
As our students have grown, Cadaniño has grown with them.
Thanks to generous donors and partners, our university preparation and scholarship programs help students make the challenging transition from high school into higher education.
Beginning in their senior year, we work individually with students to identify their interests and abilities, explore careers, visit universities, navigate applications, and prepare for entrance exams.
For many of the young people we serve, simply believing that university is possible is a significant step.
We also work with their families to understand the commitment university requires and the life-changing impact a degree can have, not only for a student, but potentially for an entire family.
And when a student enters university, our involvement doesn’t end. Through regular check-ins, encouragement, prayer, and counseling, we continue helping them navigate the challenges of balancing school, work, family responsibilities, and finances.
Scholarships provide critical assistance with tuition, transportation, books, materials, food, and other expenses. But the investment goes far beyond financial support.
It continues a relationship that, for many of these students, began years ago.
And now we are beginning to see where that investment can lead. Here are some updates on former Cadaniño students who are now enrolled in university.
Shaila — Discovering a Calling to Teach
Shaila attended Cadaniño’s Santa Fe Center, where she was an excellent student and graduated from high school with good grades. Through her years at Cadaniño and volunteer opportunities, she discovered a desire to help other children succeed, leading her to study Educational Administration.
The transition to university has brought new challenges as she balances work and school while adapting to a new academic environment. At the same time, her professors have inspired her with creative ways of teaching and opportunities to serve, including a visit to a home for people with special needs and years of service in the Youth Missions Club, which have deepened her desire to serve others.
For Shaila, university is about more than earning a degree. It is preparing her to use her God-given gifts to teach, serve, and help other young people reach their potential.
Jania — An Opportunity She Never Imagined
For Jania, continuing her education after high school once seemed impossible. After years as a student at Cadaniño, she is now studying Educational Administration at the University of San Carlos, an opportunity she says she never imagined having.
“I never imagined making it this far.”
Her scholarship helps with transportation, books, school materials, and food, taking a significant burden off both her and her family. She finished her first semester with an amazing average of 88.6 and is motivated to keep working hard and improving.
The support has also shaped how Jania thinks about her own future. She hopes that one day she can help other students continue their education, just as others have invested in her and helped make this opportunity possible.
Madelin — Persevering Toward the Goal
Madelin is now in her fourth semester studying Legal and Social Sciences.
Her journey has not been easy; both her parents passed away when she was a teenager.
She balances university with work, responsibilities at home, and the pressures of everyday life. Some classes have been difficult, and there have been moments of fear and uncertainty.
But she keeps going.
One of the things that encourages her most is knowing that people believe in her and in what she is capable of accomplishing.
As she puts it, “Each time I am closer to the goal.”
That perseverance is something we have always hoped to cultivate in Cadaniño students.
Our goal isn’t to remove every obstacle from their lives. It is to help prepare them academically, spiritually, and personally so that when obstacles come, they have the tools, faith, relationships, and encouragement to keep moving forward. And Madelin continues to do exactly that.
Rosa — Preparing to Give Back
Rosa was just 13 when she became one of the first students to join Cadaniño’s Youth Missions Club during the pandemic. She has continued this even after graduating from Cadaniño: teaching the Bible to children in her community.
Now Rosa is in her second semester studying Agricultural Engineering in Agricultural Production Systems. Her scholarship helps cover the materials she needs for practical coursework as she gains hands-on experience with crops such as coffee, corn, and vegetables.
Rosa hopes to use her education to serve communities through agriculture, while continuing to share her faith with others. In many ways, she is already living out what we hope for every Cadaniño student: discovering the gifts God has given her, developing them, and using them to serve others.
Susi — Moving Closer to Her Goals
For Susi, university has been a season of change, challenge, and personal growth. She completed her first term with good grades despite moments of fear and uncertainty, and through it all, she says God has continued to guide her.
Continuing her education is bringing Susi closer to goals that once seemed much farther away. And knowing that others have chosen to invest in her future communicates something powerful: Your future matters. Your gifts matter. And we believe God can use your life.
The Next Ten Years
Ten years ago, we couldn’t have known where the journey would take each child who walked through the doors of Cadaniño.
We still don’t.
For one child, the next step might be learning to read. For another, it might be passing a difficult class, programming a computer, building a robot, discovering an aptitude for teaching, graduating from high school, entering university, or beginning a career.
Eventually, we hope the next step becomes something even greater: using what God has given them to make a difference in someone else’s life.
That is the journey we want to be part of:
Discover their God-given gifts → Develop them to their greatest potential → Use them to glorify God and serve others.
Ten years later, some of the children we began walking alongside are now university students studying education, law, agriculture, and systems engineering.
They are still learning, still growing, and still discovering where God will lead them.
And we are still walking alongside them, because university isn’t the end of the story; it’s simply the next step.
Sincerely,
Timothy and Sharie Martiny
