Roxana was accepted at the Instituto de Educación Superior Pedagógico Pukllasunchis!
The first time I meet Roxana, she greets me with a smile. These days she is feeling calm, but not so long ago, the story was different. On December 15th 2019, she took an exam that completely changed the course of her academic future. Each year, the Peruvian Government evaluates around 35,000 candidates and rewards only 5,000 grants through the project “Beca 18.” “I thought I wasn’t going to make it,” she laughs, as she remembers how nervous she felt that day.
“At Pathways I was taught to be responsible, to have confidence in myself and to trust my parents.”
Three weeks after the exam, Roxana found out she had become one of the talented young people rewarded with one of the grants. She received the news at Paqari Wayna; Amantani’s Youth Hub where currently 105 young people in Cusco come together to study and take part in social activities. When I ask her how she felt when she received the news surrounded by the team of tutors and by her friends, she replies, “Happy, excited.” Then, she smiles and adds, “Proud.”
During the 6 months prior to the exam, Roxana took part in the Pathways Programme, focusing on strengthening academic subjects and engaging in different personal development workshops. “At Pathways I was taught to be responsible, to have confidence in myself and to trust my parents.” At Amantani, parents are a very important part of the young students’ education, because they are the ones in charge of providing them the support they need at home to achieve their academic goals.
In March, Roxana will begin to study Educación Primaria Intercultural Bilingüe (Bilingual and Intercultural Primary Education) at the Instituto de Educación Superior Pedagógico Pukllasunchis (Pedagogic Institute of Higher Education Pukllasunchis.) “I want to teach students who come to the city from rural areas about the differences in culture, traditions, responsibilities and even in games.” She is the first one of her proud family who has access to higher education and leaves her own community to study in Cusco.
At Amantani we are very grateful that we can be a part of Roxana’s wonderful story; thanks to our many donors and their commitment to support young people’s education and access to fair employment. We are sure that with Amantani’s help, with her friends by her side and with her parents’ strong and eager support from afar, we will soon see Roxana achieve all the goals she once thought were impossible.