Clark High School student forms club to assist East Timor’s economy

East Timor is a small country in Southeast Asia plagued with poverty. Clark High School student Nicolas Vaughn is trying to spur its economy.

Vaughn, 17, visited the country with his family last summer. His parents, both doctors, gave free medical help to residents. Vaughn and his 14-year-old sister, Natalie, helped with the checkups and also volunteered at an orphanage.

"Here in America, we're very sheltered to what poverty is like in other countries," Vaughn said. "It's not really something you hear about that often. After going and witnessing it firsthand, it really opened my eyes to the way the world is.

"I was wondering what I could do to help the people there. The amount of poverty there shocked me, and I really wanted to help."

Vaughn started a club at Clark High School, 4291 W. Pennwood Ave., which acts as a "microbank" for East Timor. So far it has given two loans, one for $150 to a woman to open a bakery and one for $20 to a woman to buy supplies and inventory to sell banana chips at Sunday markets.

Those loans might seem small, but in East Timor $100 can buy a building, Vaughn said, and $1 can buy three chickens, or food for a month. The club charges a 2 percent interest rate on its loans.

The club's liaison in East Timor is a group of nuns whom the Vaughns befriended during their visit. The nuns even teach aspiring entrepreneurs there how to create business plans and offer job training. The nuns send the business plans to Vaughn and his club to review and vote on which projects to fund.

For his efforts, Prudential Financial recognized Vaughn as a finalist in the 2012 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program.

He received an engraved bronze medallion during a presentation in May at the school.

Vaughn and other club members plan to continue fundraising during the summer to be able to give out more loans next school year. Eventually, Vaughn said, he would like to expand the loans to people in other impoverished countries.

Clark senior Daniel Dinev is president of the school's Distributive Education Clubs of America, or DECA, a business competition club. He said he was impressed when he saw Vaughn's business plan presented at a DECA competition last fall.

"It's unique. It's an actual business, and it's operational," Dinev said. "He's helping a developing country. Those countries don't have very strong financial companies. He's lending out a hand to this country. He's developing a country through a club in high school in America.

"Nic is what we need in this country. He's an entrepreneur. It's a really great thing that he's doing."

Natalie Vaughn is the club's director of foreign operations, maintaining contact with the nuns in East Timor. She said she is proud of her brother and plans to serve as club president once Nicolas graduates.

"I think it's a pretty impressive thing that Nic is doing," she said. "I'd never seen anything like it. ... We thought it would be a great idea and beneficial for both sides."

To donate to the club, call the school at 799-5800 or email Nicolas Vaughn at kuyanick@gmail.com.

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 224-5524.