In Bolivia, one of the major challenges facing youth is access to higher education. As young people in rural, indigenous communities in particular often face difficulties in attending university, the Unidad Académica Campesina-Carmen Pampa (UAC-CP) steps in to fill the gap and provide much-needed degree programs to communities in the Andes.
The UAC-CP was founded in 1993 in the rural Andean community of Carmen Pampa. The community’s pervasive poverty led founder Sister Damon Nolan and community leaders to establish the university in order to bring higher education and more career opportunities to the region.
Young people in indigenous communities like Carmen Pampa are often unable to attend university in large cities like Bolivia’s capital, La Paz. Tuition and housing are prohibitively expensive, and indigenous youth are often unwilling or unable to leave their traditional communities. In addition, when they return home graduates often have difficulty applying their degrees within those communities to help them prosper.
The UAC-CP provides a unique solution for Carmen Pampa and surrounding towns in the Andes. The location means that students can remain much closer to their families and stay involved in community life.
The University also offers a unique set of degrees, including veterinary/animal science, agronomy, and rural tourism. Programs incorporate community service outreach and research methods, and subjects like peace studies and gender equality are also part of the curriculum.
As a result, graduates are able to use their degrees to help raise themselves and their families out of poverty. According to the Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD), agronomy graduates take their knowledge back to their family farms, and “combine conventional science with contextual, indigenous knowledge to improve production as well as economic, social, and environmental conditions within their communities.”
More than 400 UAC-CP graduates have returned to contribute to Carmen Pampa, working as teachers, agricultural researchers, reforestation technicians, and microfinance specialists. Per INESAD, the overall economic development of the region is improving, and the UAC-CP is fulfilling its mission to give rural, indigenous youth equal access to higher education and help break the cycle of poverty.
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Written by Carla Drumhiller Smith