graduate update: agustin apaza

Agustin Apaza is a 2009 UAC-CP Nursing graduate whose life story and ear to ear smile I find personally inspiring. He is a young Bolivian man who has overcome literally life-threatening odds to achieve what some may have once considered the impossible.

I wrote about Agustin last December--the obstacles he's faced, the experiences that have shaped his life, and his dream to help other people. "I think each of us has a mission," he told me last year. "And this is my mission--to reduce the pain and suffering of other people." His dream, Agustin confessed, would be to work with Doctor's Without Borders, get international experience, and then eventually someday return to the College to teach and share his experiences with other young Bolivians like him. (Click here to read Agustin's story published last December)

So I was particularly touched last week when I learned from Agustin via a Facebook e-mail that he is realizing his dream--and the mission of the College--to serve the poor. He wrote:

Greetings from Honduras!

Hello, dear Sarah. How are you? Where are are you??

Since I left the College I have been working with Doctors Without Borders. I worked with them throughout Bolivia and then I went with them to Guatemala on an emergency medical mission. Right now I am doing another emergency mission trip with Doctors Without Borders in Honduras where we are working with the dengue epidemic.

It's been really amazing to travel and get to know so many places and distinct cultures. Of course I am also running some risks in the sense that these Central American countries can be very dangerous--we encounter a lot of insecurity, crime, and wars between rival gangs on a daily basis. I miss Bolivia very much and will be returning there soon.

I hope you are doing very well. I also send hugs and kisses to Sr. Damon. I always keep you both in my heart. Thanks to everyone at the College, I am a professional and I am able to help the people most in need.

Much love,

Agustin Apaza

the scholarship fund

While I often write about and share the stories of our students here in Carmen Pampa, I think the most powerful stories come directly from them.

The letter I received yesterday outlines common difficulties faced in order for young men and women to study at the UAC-CP.

So, with my own translation and a few edits to protect identities and provide context, I'm sharing a letter that I received from a UAC-CP student who came to talk with me yesterday about his inability to pay for College this semester. As I do for all students who seek help (mostly because there are so many that I need help remembering), I asked him to write me a letter.

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Carmen Pampa, 29 de Agosto 2010

Dear Sarah,

First, I greet you very respectfully. You are a person to whom I wish much success in the work that you do day after day.

I'm writing you this letter to ask a huge favor. I am hoping you might be able to find me a person who could help me pay for my tuition and food costs so that I can continue my studies at this College. Sarah, I ask you for this favor and help because my family can't help me--they have very few economic resources.

I have four other brothers and I am the last child in the family. My siblings are adults and have their own families and children and it is for that reason that they are unable to help me financially. My mom is older and is physically unable to work very hard. My mother also has her husband and he works, but is injury in a mining accident prevents him from earning very much. My father died when I was in high school and even when he was alive he didn't support me because my parents divorced when I was just 8-years-old.

Ever since I was just a little kid I've always wanted to study. For that reason I supported myself in high school when I had to pay for my school materials. I worked hard to make it. None of my older four siblings were able to study--none of them finished grade school. I am the only one in the family that has struggled and fought in order to continue studying at the college level. I do it because I want to be the pride of my family, of my community.

In order to do this, I work during vacation to be able to pay for my tuition and food cooperative dues. But now things are more complicated for me as my economic situation has worsened. I'm in my fourth semester of studies in Agronomy and I am unable to afford to pay for my studies and food because in the most recent vacation [month of July] I didn't have very much success in my work. I paid the registration fee, but up until now I still haven't paid the first month's tuition.

I want to continue studying at the UAC-CP. Since I was a child I have had to look for strategies that would allow me to continue studying in grade school and high school. And that's how I have arrived to where I am today--studying here at the College.

My father wasn't able to see me graduate from high school because he died. And now I can't think of asking my beloved, older mother for financial help--I just hope that she will be able to see me graduate from college. (I invite you to meet my mother--we can travel together together to visit her in Mapiri. You are welcome to our humble home.)

With nothing more to add, I only ask that God always bless you and I wish you safe travels on your upcoming trip.

Sincerely,

E.

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Reading between the lines of his letter, the second-year Agronomy student is asking for support of about $50 a month (the subsidized cost that students pay for tuition, room, and board--not the actual cost to educate them). While $50 isn't that much (maybe one night of dinner, movie, and drinks?) in the scheme of things, it's impossible for the average person to single-handedly provide that amount to all of our 700-some students.

That is why I encourage people to make donations to CPF's Scholarship Fund. Our Scholarship Partners Program allows the College to award scholarships to students based on academic achievement, behavior, and financial need. Of course, the amount of scholarships available is entirely dependent on the size of CPF's Scholarship Fund. The more money we raise, the more scholarships we can make available for students.

So, to those of you who give to the Scholarship Fund--MUCHISIMAS GRACIAS! Know that you provide amazing miracles with your gift. For those of you looking for a way to make a difference, please consider making a gift, in any amount, to CPF's Scholarship Fund!

veronica goes to brookings

Today is a big day for UAC-CP Agronomy graduate Veronica Calles. Tonight, she boards a plane bound for the United States where she will make her way to Brookings, S.D., to enroll as a full-time graduate student in Plant Sciences and Entomology at South Dakota State University (SDSU).

In the past two years, I have written a couple times about Veronica -- a beautiful, intelligent and responsible young indigenous woman who is from the small farming community of Santa Ana (a 30-minute walk from Coroico).

Veronica and her father, Francisco, a couple hours after Veronica's thesis defense at the College in April.

I blogged about Veronica and her incredible life story in March 2009 (click here to read) and I later wrote about a visit to Veronica's home and my experience staying with her family in June 2009 (click here to read). And today I'm thrilled to write about her again to share the most recent and exciting update on Veronica's life.

A year ago, Veronica was given a scholarship from the U.S. State Department to study English at the Centro Boliviano Americano (CBA) -- the premiere English institute in La Paz. While taking English classes daily and living with her sister in La Paz, Veronica was able to finish writing her thesis. In April, she successfully defended her thesis and graduated from the UAC-CP. And a couple months later was informed of her invitation to study at SDSU -- all of which will be funded through a research assistantship.

Veronica is an amazing example of the transformative power of education. She has demonstrated to herself and to others that, given the opportunity, young men and women from Bolivia's rural area can transform their lives through education. And we expect that Veronica's experience and knowledge gained through her master's degree program will help her transform the lives of her people living in Bolivia's rural sector.

We are all very proud of Veronica and wish her the best of luck as she embarks on this life-changing adventure!

Special thanks to Dr. Diane Rickerl and Dr. Paul Johnson, regular and long-time collaborators with the UAC-CP, and other faculty and staff at SDSU for making this opportunity available to Veronica.