international women's day

Today, International Women's Day, I think it's important to recognize the College's role in the promotion and liberation of women through education. Here, in one of the poorest areas of Latin America, the UAC-CP is dedicated to the social and economic success of both men and women.

Ecotourism students take an English exam.

When UAC-CP founder Sr. Damon Nolan first arrived to Carmen Pampa in the early 1980s, she was appalled at the unequal and limited educational opportunities for girls and women. There were no women studying at the local high school.  So, her first step was to convince fathers to let their daughters study. Her first year she succeeded in getting four young women ("Bathrooms," Sr. Damon admits, "were a challenge!")

When the idea of the College came to fruition, Sr. Damon made sure it was understood that it would be an institution of higher learning for men and women to receive equal opportunities. Now, 28 years after girls were first admitted to the local high school and 17 years after the founding of the College, we are thrilled that more than half of the College's study body is composed of women. In fact, 52 percent of UAC-CP graduates are women--many of whom have gone on to continuing studies (two female UAC-CP graduates are currently doctoral candidates).

Veterinary Science students work in the lab.

To celebrate the extraordinary achievement of the College, Carmen Pampa Fund is providing the opportunity to honor inspiring women in our lives with a donation to the Fund. Each woman you honor with a tribute gift of $25 or more will receive a special handwritten card this month of March (Women´s Month) from a female UAC-CP student whose life has been transformed through education.

Women in the College´s Pre-University Program dressed in traditional costumes to dance the Tink'u.

Help us celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day and recognize the success of the College to promote women. Please consider honoring an inspiring woman in your life by making a gift to Carmen Pampa Fund. Your gift will help support scholarships for students and teacher and administrative salaries for women who work at the College.  Women honored with a gift of $25 or more will receive a special note from a female student at the UAC-CP.  Click here to make your gift!

scholarship update

I truly believe that the most effective way to help students at the UAC-CP achieve success is by donating to Carmen Pampa Fund's Scholarship Partners Program.  And the results of our graduate survey indicates this--the overwhelming majority of UAC-CP graduates had scholarships. Scholarships allow students to study, graduate, and incorporate the mission of the College into their professional and personal lives.

Agronomy student Genia Santander Agramont (far right) pictured with her family is a recipient of a scholarship from Carmen Pampa Fund's Scholarship Partners Program. 

Unfortunately, due to funding cuts from several partner programs, the College is only able to provide 1 out of 10 students with some type of financial assistance. Though I like to think that we make it possible for everyone to study here, I sadly know some young people have dropped out of school based on purely financial reasons. In fact, it happened today.

The current CPF Scholarship Partners Program newsletter for Winter 2011 features two short profiles of UAC-CP students Ruber and Amparo, who are both examples of how a scholarships transform lives.  You can read their stories here online.

Many thanks to the people who donate to the Scholarship Partners Program--may you know the miracles you make happen.

testify! ...for a new website

Carmen Pampa Fund has the opportunity to participate in The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge on March 26th and 27th.  It's a 24-hour challenge for web pros to build websites for Minnesota-based non-profits who could use a facelift.

Carmen Pampa Fund wants to be part of this challenge...but we need your help, we need your testimonials (part of the selection for participating non-profits is based on testimonials).

Please take just dos minutos to visit:  http://tc2011.overnightwebsitechallenge.com/nonprofits/27 and leave a brief message about why Carmen Pampa Fund deserves a full day at the website spa.

Already several people have shared beautiful messages.  The following are two special messages from former volunteers Chris DeLorenzo (2010) and Anne McGinness (2004).  To read other peoples' testimonies, you'll have to visit the site!

---------
"Carmen Pampa's story needs to be told. Education in the global South is an often-overlooked but absolutely essential area of international development. The marginalized classes of the developing world need professionals and leaders from among their ranks. As a volunteer teacher at the UAC-CP last semester, I have seen the profound impact this institution has had on its small corner of Bolivia. I have worked day-to-day with students determined to return to their villages as professionals and agents of change, and I have visited communities where graduates are promoting very real and practical development. Carmen Pampa is truly an exceptional place.

Yet it still has many critical needs. The College is perpetually running on limited funds, struggling to keep the lights on and the copy machines running. Finding qualified professors, particularly for the English program, can be very challenging due to the university's limited visibility in Bolivia and internationally. A new, dynamic and attention-grabbing website would go a long way in remedying these shortcomings. My students certainly deserve it."  --Chris DeLorenzo

----------
"I was a volunteer at the UAC for a year in 2004. The experience changed my life. Sr. Damon [UAC-CP founder], the administration, teachers, and students work every day toward fulfilling the dream upon which the school was founded: to provide education to those who would not normally have access to education, so that the students might give back to their communities the skills they learned in pedagogy, veterinary science, agriculture, nursing, and tourism.

This is an institution that works every day to eliminate poverty. Inspired by the Greek word, metanoia, the community at Carmen Pampa works daily toward a conversion, a complete reorientation of the mind and heart into faith, hope and a better life."  --Anne McGinness

Thanks to everyone who has left a testimonial on the The Nerdery!