Higher education for indigenous students in Mexico

This weekend, we had our first group meeting with our new generation of scholarship students. We are just getting to know them, but we have already been impressed by their tenacity in the face of many obstacles and their determination to continue with their studies.

This is our first cohort to include young men as well as young women. We have currently accepted nine students: four young men and five young women. Seven are studying at the university, and two are in their final year of high school. They are also a mix of local students who grew up in town and students from the surrounding villages. We will slowly get to know them better as the school year begins.

Their fields of study vary: teaching, architecture, accounting and business management. Most are attending public schools, while two are attending small private schools.

The student we know best is the first student we accepted into our new program. He has worked with us in the community café attached to our premises in Juchitán for over a year. At twenty years old, this will be his second attempt at beginning a college career. He will be studying to become a teacher at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional.

Our contact with him over the past year was one of the factors that made us reconsider our scholarship program. Even though he has housing in town with his father, there is no extra money to help him continue his studies. Everything he earns goes into the family budget, and he cannot afford transportation to school or school fees.

The school he is attending has a weekend program for working students, so he will work Monday through Friday and go to school on Saturday and Sunday. He is worried about balancing work and school and is happy that he will have a mentor and our team to help him face the challenges ahead.

We are excited about the changes to our program this year and the new model for our scholarship program. Our commitment to the students is for this school year, with the option to renew next year.

We are grateful to all of you who continue to support our programs. Without your support, these young women and men would not have the opportunity to pursue a college education.