ANNOUNCING.....The One Pencil Tsimane Scholarship Program
The Beni region of northern Bolivia is rapidly changing and as a result many modern conveniences are making their way to even the most remote Tsimane villages. For example, motorized boats (“peki pekis”) have transformed the trip to the major market town of San Borja from a voyage requiring several days of hard paddling into a trip that can be completed in a day. Access to San Borja and other market towns means the Tsimane now have the opportunity to sell crops and wares, and also affords access to tools and supplies, expansive food and drink options, medical resources and even modern conveniences. Knowledge of basic math skills and the ability to speak conversational Spanish - the national language of Bolivia - are prerequisites for the Tsimane who wish to transact business in market towns, and these skills are now taught in most Tsimane villages. (Quality of schooling and teaching resources varies substantially from village to village, and this is among the issues One Pencil is committed to improving).
While the advantages of a global economy are many, so too are the risks and threats. History is replete with tragic stories of conflict and exploitation as the global economy arrives at the doorstep of indigenous populations. Only a small fraction of the Tsimane population completes secondary school and once finished, these students have few if any options for furthering their education. Yet the Tsimane people face significant obstacles to a sustainable future for their land and their culture. Deforestation, droughts, and floods - exacerbated by climate change - have increased food insecurity. Ranchers and other colonists encroach on Tsimane land and the Tsimane continue to struggle for political representation at the local and national level. Navigating these existential threats will require technical know-how and legally-astute leadership.
It is with these concerns in mind that University of Richmond Professor and One Pencil Advisory Board member Christopher von Rueden began investigating the possibility of creating a scholarship program for outstanding Tsimane students to attain a university education. Professor von Rueden contacted Marino Lero Vie, a former colleague at the Tsimane Health and LIfe History Project who now serves as Liason Officer for Indigenous Affairs with the Beni Regional Government. Mr. Lero Vie approached the Tsimane Gran Consejo (the Tsimane governing council) and the Universidad Autonoma del Beni, the region’s largest university and both organizations enthusiastically embraced the program. “This has been a tremendous group effort,” von Rueden noted, “and one that will provide tremendous opportunity for some Tsimane students to gain invaluable skills and experience otherwise unavailable to them. We hope these scholarship recipients will become some of the next generation of leaders for the Tsimane people.”
Annual costs for the program amount to roughly $2000 per student for tuition, room and board and the University has committed to fund one of the scholarships. Below are photos and names of the first 5 scholarship recipients along with the degrees they intend to pursue, in agricultural engineering, public accounting, and the law. In 2020, One Pencil provided financial support to two Namibian students seeking degrees in dentistry, and it is our goal to expand scholarship programs which we believe to be absolutely critical to the long-term viability of these Tsimane, Himba, Twa and other indigenous populations.
