Scholarship Program

The Voces y Manos Community Leaders Scholarship Program is founded on the conviction that young people have limitless potential to transform the health of their communities. The indigenous families with whom we work in Rabinal, Guatemala share this conviction, but poverty often prevents them from being able to send their children to school beyond the 9th grade. Until their children have better educational opportunities, it will be difficult for indigenous families to improve their quality of life.

Voces y Manos is committed to breaking this vicious cycle of poverty. Our scholarship program allows indigenous youth to complete their high school education, and gain valuable training in community leadership. Our students graduate not only with a degree, but also with the skills and self-confidence needed to build healthier communities, and a brighter future.

How the Program Works

Program participants are nominated by our partner in Guatemala, Fundación Nueva Esperanza (New Hope Foundation, or FNE), which operates a middle school in Rabinal. Teachers from FNE recommend students to us based on their academic effort, leadership potential, and dedication to community service. These students then work with Voces y Manos summer volunteers for 7 weeks to research health problems in their communities. After completing their research projects, students are introduced to a local mentor who helps them develop community projects that will effectively address the problems they have identified.

Upon successful completion of their community projects, students are awarded scholarships to study at academic institutions of their choosing in Rabinal. Over the years, scholarship recipients have pursued careers in education, nursing, engineering and medicine. During their studies, the scholarship recipients receive ongoing support from both Fundación Nueva Esperanza and Voces y Manos.

About the Students

Each summer Voces y Manos works with a team of 10 dedicated students from Fundacion Nueva Esperanza’s bilingual community school.  These students are eager for the opportunity to pursue higher education, and to learn how to implement successful community projects.

Students in Action

“At first, the idea of doing a community project made me nervous.  Now, I feel capable of speaking in front of my community because I’ve learned what it means to be a leader!”–Mardoqueo Osorio Chen, 2011 scholarship recipient. 

This past summer, Mardoqueo (right) and Maynor teamed up with Voces y Manos volunteer and board member Amy Yam to research the effects of deforestation on the health of their community. The two young men were shocked to learn the extent to which deforestation puts communities at risk for being damaged by mudslides. To address this problem, they successfully rallied 140 community members to plant 1,100 trees!

Click here to see photos, and learn more about our other students’ community Projects!

Learn more about how the program works

 For $1 a day, you can change the life of a student, and help transform a community! Click here to learn how.