University Scholarship Fund


As Project Amigo’s scholarship recipients progress through junior high and high school, the number of them who go on to attend college increases each year. Between 2001 and 2009, the number of Project Amigo scholars attending the University any given year has grown from four to thirty-four! Thirteen have graduated from college, and five more will graduate in the 2009-10 school year.

The University Scholarship Fund (USF) was established in 2001 to provide a guaranteed source of funding for deserving college students who do not have the financial resources to attend college and must depend on a scholarship. Last year the USF provided one university scholarship, and we depended on private fund-raising efforts for the other ten.

We urgently need your help to build this fund to the level where it will be able to support up to 30 college scholars a year.

All of our University scholars are studying for professional careers: law, medicine, nursing, accounting, business administration, education, engineering and computer sciences. With your help, these deserving young people will lift themselves and their families out of a generations-old cycle of poverty and desperation.


The Importance of a University Education

In Mexico it is still uncommon enough for a person to achieve a college degree that people with a Licenciado or Licenciada (B.A.) include the title Lic. on their business cards. These people are often referred to by the title, as in "The Licenciado who lives on the next block ..." or "May I speak with the Licendiada?" The attainment of a B.A. is obviously a noteworthy and highly respected achievement.

In a society as class-stratified as Mexico, earning a college degree is the entry ticket into the middle class. It opens many doors, not only in terms of job opportunities, but in terms of social status as well.


Building Tomorrow's University Students

Since 1997 Project Amigo has been providing scholarships to bright and under- privileged students so they can attend junior high, high school and college. It has always been the philosophy of Project Amigo that a scholarship would continue as long as the student earned good grades and had the drive and ambition to continue.

Once children graduate from sixth grade, the poorer of them will need financial and tutorial assistance in order to continue their studies. The costs of school registration fees, public transportation to the larger villages and cities where the junior highs, high schools and colleges are located, plus the expenses of uniforms and shoes are just prohibitive for poor rural families. As a result, very bright youngsters have no chance to make a better life for themselves and their families.

Project Amigo provides scholarships to up to 100 students each year. These scholarships cover the costs of room and board when needed, school registration fees, transportation to and from their villages, school supplies and uniforms.

Project Amigo staff and volunteers hold weekly homework clubs in several sites around the state to give the students the tutorial support they also need to do well in school. These homework clubs provide not only help with homework, but also devote time each week to reading and conversing exercises designed to build the students’ communication skills and self-esteem.

All Project Amigo scholars come from extremely poor families. These families experience all the problems associated with poverty - substandard housing, ill health, unemployment, desertion by the father, alcoholism, domestic violence. Any number of family and personal problems may interrupt a child's education.

During the weekly Homework Club sessions, the directors of each club get to know the students and their family situations. They watch for signs of problems, such as illness, financial crisis, and abuse. Project Amigo provides appropriate intervention where needed to keep the student in school. A professional child psychologist is available to counsel students and recommend appropriate action to Project Amigo staff and volunteers. Often all a student needs is a sympathetic adult to talk with and provide the encouragement they don’t receive at home.

Thank you for helping build our University Scholarship Fund so Project Amigo can continue helping these deserving young people!






Special thanks to Organics Unlimited and the GROW Fund for their extraordinary support in growing our University Scholarship Fund.