UUFSMA: “Scholarships Open Doors to the World”

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Sunday Service

“Scholarships Open Doors to the World”
Speakers: Pedro Hernandez, Jose Luis Servin

Sunday, August 21, 2022
10:30 am

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/414604040 

Password: 294513

By Joseph Plummer
UUFSMA Board Secretary

Two architectural students at the San Miguel de Allende campus of Universidad de Leon will narrate a tour in slides of the ancient temples and palaces of Mexico’s East Coast during this UUFSMA Sunday service. Students Pedro Hernandez and Jose Luis Servin will describe the structural wonders of architectural treasures they explored at Villahermosa, Campeche, Chichen Itza, Uxmal, and Merida.

As Nora Weaver, Director of Programs for Jovenes Adelante, will explain in her introduction of the two guest speakers, their increasing expertise as students of architecture owes much to Jóvenes Adelante, which is said to be the most comprehensive university scholarship program in Mexico. Both young men are beginning their fifth year of studies, anticipate graduation in 2023, and promise to share their insights into the importance of structures from Mexico’s earliest civilizations. As student interns, both work with Instituto Municipal de Planeamiento (IMPLAN San Miguel) and are gaining experience in planning public parks, sports venues, and new streets. Meanwhile, planning careers, both hope to open their own architectural practice in SMA with two other friends.

A member of the Jóvenes Adelante Board for four years, Weaver notes that the scholarship program currently supports 123 students, and they share in the program’s life-changing support that has already enabled 246 students of San Miguel to obtain college degrees. Known for its high-impact graduation rate of 85 percent, the program identifies financial sponsors for its enrollees and provides them with computers, access to psychological support, tutoring in English, workshops in life skills, and career connections through a network of program graduates. Notable for its mentoring and coaching, the program also connects students with accomplished adult mentor professionals, such as architects Rafa Franco, IMPLAN’s Fabian Trujillo, and UUFSMA Member Alicia Price. Jovenes Adelante’s work is one of the strongest catalysts for cultural change in the SMA region.

Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion inviting its community to come together around a set of harmonizing values and principles for living. Our UU Fellowship welcomes people of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientation, and gender identify. Belief in a divinity is not the central issue around which we gather for worship and generous action. Rather, we come together with a belief in community, love, compassion, social justice, and reverence for nature, all within the interconnected web of existence.

Enjoy previous services at https://www.youtube.com/. Enter UUFSMA in the search box. UUFSMA donates generously to support nonprofit organizations that provide health, educational, and environmental services for underserved communities in the San Miguel region. Please support this work by clicking on the website home page Donate button.

To participate in our online Sunday Service, visit www.uufsma.org and click on the Zoom Service button on the home page. If requested, enter password: 294513. Sign-in from anywhere Sunday mornings between 10:15-10:25 am CST.

In addition to continuing live Zoom services, UUFSMA has returned to in-person Sunday services. Reservations are no longer necessary.