Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – How does a girl from an Indigenous village, deep in the mountains of the Sierra Madres, shake the dust from her feet and leave her community to attend high school in a town far away? Then, after three years, how does she move to the city to study at university?
After getting her law degree, Bianca America Enríquez Lopez, now a confident young woman, is working in the Jalisco state congress as a legislative aid and conducting workshops on reproductive rights with Huichol and non-Huichol women.
At the same time, Isaías Navarrete Chino pried himself away from his Huichol family, friends, and community in a mountain valley in Jalisco. He, too, completed high school far away from his community. While working multiple jobs during university, he earned his degree in Forestry Engineering at the Autonomous University of Chapingo. During his time there, Isaías helped develop a program that will bring more Indigenous students to Chapingo, one of Mexico’s top universities in natural resource management.
The International Friendship Club (IFC) is proud to tell you that both of these fine young people were recently awarded the prestigious Premio Estatal a la Juventud (State Youth Prize) for the state of Jalisco.
Ten years ago, the idea of such successes would have been “impossible”. Not anymore!
IFC is especially happy for Bianca and Isaisis because they receive financial help from the Huichol Scholarship Fund (HSF). Since 2018, the HSF has raised money from Canadian and American ex-pats in Puerto Vallarta to support Huichol (Wixarika) university students. IFC was instrumental in setting up the Huichol Scholarship Fund four years ago and has been an enthusiastic supporter since then.
As these young professionals graduate, they will be able to help their communities defend their sovereignty and their culture from the many external threats they currently face.
If you have spent time in Puerto Vallarta, you will have seen the spectacular and beautiful Huichol arts, crafts and heard their music. However, few American and Canadian residents or visitors to PV know much about this Indigenous nation, and even fewer have visited one of their communities in the Sierra Madre.
If you want to learn more about the Huichol nation, please watch a fascinating talk by Jimena Marquez, a Mexican anthropologist who has worked with them. A native of Mexico City, Jimena has a particular interest in culture, cosmology and Indigenous education. She is helping Indigenous youth maintain a link to their ancestral cultures and, simultaneously, participate in a western/American community. You can view her talk HERE.
HSF now supports 20 university students. The scholarships require an annual investment from a donor of just $350 USD ($7,000 pesos). For just $30 USD/month, you can help a child achieve the impossible. Donations to the HSF can be made at wixarika.org. (Remember to specify your donation is for the scholarship fund in the space for ‘special instructions to the seller’.)
William Wordsworth wrote: “The best portion of a good man’s life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.” True!
Written by John Warren of the International Friendship Club.
The International Friendship Club is a registered charitable organization in Mexico listed as Club Internacional de la Amistad de Puerto Vallarta A.C. It is located at the northeast corner of the Rio Cuale Bridge above the HSBC Bank, Colonia El Centro, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, 48300. Phone: 322-222-5466. Website: ifcvallarta.org Email: info(at)ifcvallarta.org