Iowa’s sustainable Yucatán scholarships
When Iowa Partners members witnessed the challenges facing rural Yucatecan students during their biennial Mayan immersion trips, they wanted to help. What began as modest annual contributions has evolved into a sustainable endowment model that other chapters might consider adopting.
“Its main objective is to support transportation expenses and academic materials like books, supplies, things that are needed,” explains William A. Chay Canul, president of the Yucatán Partners. “This support began with Professor Elías Alcocer and focused initially on youth from his town, Yaxunah. [pronounced Ja shoe nah; population, 755,] Now it’s helping youth from other communities too.”
Chuck Montgomery, a retired lawyer and Iowa Partners member, proposed establishing an endowment fund based on his experience with similar funds for other organizations.
Endowments Can Be Relatively Small
“We were on an immersion trip in 2022 and there was a fairly strong component of new people with us,” Chuck explains. “We talked over the course of the trip about what we could do to make a difference.”
Through dedicated fundraising, the chapter amassed $35,000 to create a permanent fund managed by the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, which generates a 5% return for ongoing scholarship support every year while preserving the principal. “The endowment fund has maintained its value with some minor variation through recent weeks. It’s designed to reflect our moderate risk tolerance (a combo of low-risk investments and some higher risk investments) so there have been no major fluctuations,” notes Chuck.
“This year, we opened a call through Yucatán chapter members,” says William. “We asked members if they knew youth in secondary school or university who needed scholarship support due to economic hardships or lack of parental support.”
This year’s $2,200 distribution supported 21 students from Yaxunah and surrounding villages. After more than two decades, the partnership continues to make higher education possible where economic barriers would otherwise stand in the way.
“Elías is the inspiration for the scholarship,” Chuck reflects. “I remember him so fondly as a young man with a dream of creating what became the Yaxunah Cultural Center. We wanted to do something to honor what he did—and that’s the scholarships.”
Editor’s Note: Elías Alcocer, former president of the Yucatán Partners, is a member of Partners International Board of Directors. A social anthropologist from the Autonomous University of Yucatán, Elías also is a professor at both the Universidad de Oriente and the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. From the city of Merida, Yaxumah is the first community where he worked.” It’s beautiful there, the people are nice and they are together – and there are no phones,” says Elías, who often is out of reach.
— Cathy Healy, International Board, Colorado Partners
