●●○ medium
There is no confirmed −; independently verified + decide the position (B). No unreachable strike-through.= non-additive meter
Fundación Paraguaya: Ending poverty with self-financing schools and a ‘poverty stoplight'. “We take in poor students and educate them. But even after they graduate they stay poor — because poverty is structural.” A priest's words became Martín Burt's starting point. Fundación Paraguaya (founded 1985; Burt later also served as mayor of the capital, Asunción) takes on poverty with four tools: microcredit for micro-entrepreneurs whom banks ignore (street vendors, seamstresses; about 86,000, many women); entrepreneurship and financial education for youth; and “self-financing agricultural high schools” — it turned a school entrusted by the La Salle order in 2003 into a system where students themselves run businesses (farm produce, etc.) to earn, reaching profitability in 2007. Further, the “Poverty Stoplight” is a tool by which families self-assess 50 indicators across 6 dimensions in red/yellow/green and make their own plans, now used by over 800 organizations and over 580,000 households in 50–60 countries. The school model spread to many countries as Teach a Man to Fish. The letter is B; certainty is medium. Unconfirmed concerns are placed under “Watching.” (As of 2026-Q2; estimate based on public information.)
Main narrative
“We take in poor students and educate them. But even after they graduate they stay poor — because poverty is structural.” A priest's words became Martín Burt's starting point.
Fundación Paraguaya (founded 1985; Burt later also served as mayor of the capital, Asunción) takes on poverty with four tools: microcredit for micro-entrepreneurs whom banks ignore (street vendors, seamstresses; about 86,000, many women); entrepreneurship and financial education for youth; and “self-financing agricultural high schools” — it turned a school entrusted by the La Salle order in 2003 into a system where students themselves run businesses (farm produce, etc.) to earn, reaching profitability in 2007. Further, the “Poverty Stoplight” is a tool by which families self-assess 50 indicators across 6 dimensions in red/yellow/green and make their own plans, now used by over 800 organizations and over 580,000 households in 50–60 countries. The school model spread to many countries as Teach a Man to Fish.
One person’s story (N1)
+ before → after
A farmer's daughter enters a self-financing agricultural high school. Beyond desk study, she runs “real businesses” herself — organic-vegetable plots, cheesemaking, poultry, a rural hotel — and at 15 learns for the first time what the vegetables she grew are worth at market. Not “poor even after graduating”: she acquires the art of “filling the soul and the refrigerator at once” and returns to her area as a “rural entrepreneur.”
Source nature: Driving Change / P2 major media. Positive effects are not used to offset negatives.
Positive / negative effects
+ effects
- It reached the top “Leader Milestone” in the independent social-performance certification Truelift (assessed by MicroFinanza Rating) — the 2nd/3rd case in Latin America and 3rd/4th in the world. Its Mbaracayú girls' school for the Indigenous Aché and others is the subject of the documentary “Daughters of the Forest” (2016). It has been invited by the WEF, UNDP/Nesta, European anti-poverty platforms, and more.P1 independent certification / Truelift / MicroFinanza Rating
− effects (confirmed)
- No confirmed −.
- Independent outcome verification not reliant on self-assessment; regional/household differences; the relationship with the founder's political role
A second look
Much of the “poverty elimination” outcome is measured by the Poverty Stoplight's multidimensional indicators based on “self-assessment” (family self-report), with limited independent RCT-type outcome verification of income, health, etc. The self-financing agricultural school is a proven, achieved model, but differences by region and household remain. The founder is also a politician (capital mayor, etc.), so the relationship with the public sphere is a point to note.
Sources
How to read this assessment
- Reachable upper bound (ceiling): a confirmed − sets the ceiling, and independently verified + decide the position within it. + do not cancel out −.
- The weight of evidence is not symmetric: only confirmed − are counted; the volume of disputes or allegations goes under “Watching.” + are counted from independent evidence, while an organization’s own PR is treated as “reference.”
- Size is not value: scale is not used in the assessment. Matters that stay within money or competition—investors, shareholders, sanctions, trade secrets—are also excluded.
- The letter (assessment) and certainty (how reliable the information is) are separate axes.
This is a translation; the Japanese version is authoritative. The assessments here are generated automatically by AI based on published criteria. The operator does not alter individual results. Because they are AI-generated they may contain errors, and they are opinion and commentary, not statements of fact. Where evidence is insufficient, the entry is marked “On hold.” Requests for correction are accepted via the form.
Terms: Narrative Value = an assessment (A–G) of the distance between the story an organization tells and its reality / Ceiling meter = a visualization of the reachable upper bound / Watching = unconfirmed matters not counted / Protected stakeholders = people, animals, nature, and future generations. | Generated by: AI | As of: 2026-Q2 | Back to top