PROVO, Utah — Beginning in 1849, the Perpetual Emigration Fund helped bring 26,000 Latter-day Saints to Utah over a period of 38 years.These days, Nelson Zivic is seeing a similarly named initiative bring opportunity — and all its attendant blessings — to his home country."It gives hope to this people who didn't have it before," said Zivic, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina.The Perpetual Education Fund was a prominent topic at the 20th annual International Society conference April 6 at Brigham Young University. Discussion ranged from the success of the program to its inherent legal complexities.Zivic was part of a panel presentation given by international students from the Marriott School of Management on "Latter-day obstacles and opportunities." Several of the presenters referenced the positive impact of the PEF.The initiative was introduced in 2001 by President Gordon B. Hinckley, who spoke about Mormon missionaries who "are largely supported from the General Missionary Fund" and "serve with honor" in their home countries. Upon their return, however, "they sink right back into the pit of poverty from whence they came," President Hinckley said.The Perpetual Education Fund provides loans to Latter-day Saints in more than 40 countries to facilitate educational opportunities.Zivic said many returned missionaries in his country put in 10- to 12-hour workdays to support their families financially. For those who want to pursue an education, student loans "don't exist in the banking industry in Argentina," he said.The PEF has therefore been "a great blessing." More than 1,850 church members in Argentina have participated in the program, which teaches hope, self-reliance, leadership skills and, most importantly, sacrifice, Zivic said."They know that they need to work hard, they need to study hard, they need to repay the loans to the church and to the PEF to help other people as well," said Zivic, a returned missionary, law school graduate and current MBA student.Anderson Goncalves, a former bishop in Brazil who is also working toward an MBA, said education obstacles are "slowly being corrected by the Perpetual Education Fund." While challenges still exist, the PEF "has been a blessing for our people," he said.At the close of 2008, participation in the program numbered 34,250, according to Diane Card, lead international attorney for the PEF.Card presented statistics that show the average cost for each student is $1,112, while the average length of time spent in the program is 2.3 years. Participants, of whom 49 percent are male (82 percent returned missionaries) and 51 percent are female (18 percent returned missionaries), see their income increase an average of three to four times."It's certainly expanding," Card said. "It's certainly continuing to grow, and I'm sure that it will continue to do so."Card, who has worked for the church on international legal matters for 12 years, said being involved with the PEF has simplified her job explanation."Everybody knows what that is," she said.But her responsibilities are far from basic, as she pointed out in her presentation on legal complexities of the PEF. Referring to Doctrine and Covenants 44:4-5, she said that operations must be "compliant with the laws of man."The considerations she's most often confronted with involve finding legal structures to support operations, dealing with banking regulations and tax laws, fielding donations made from various countries and assisting students who move to areas where the PEF isn't in operation. Legal issues, however, rarely keep the program out of countries, Card said. "Despite the complexities," Card said, "it's very safe to say that the Perpetual Education Fund has been a huge success."
E-mail: ashill@desnews.com