Empowering Indigenous Youth for a Brighter Future

Dearest Supporters,

It has been a season of change at Amantani as 2025 closed out and 2026 began. Our head of fundraising and partnerships moved on to new things and our new communications coordinator – Andrea – joined the team. If you follow us on social media, you will have seen that Andrea has been working to share not only what our young people are up to, but also more about what’s going on in Peru that affects education and employment.

We’re finalising our 2025 annual report as we speak (with staff changes, it’s taken us a little longer than usual) and will share our results with you very soon.

For now, here’s a summary of the last few months:

Pathways Programme

The year started with the final phase of the Pathways Programme. Of the initial 27 participants, 24 attended the Amantani Academy, giving them an academic boost to help them with the entrance exams and what comes next. Some extra vocational orientation sessions helped them to home in on what and where they wanted to study.

Beca 18 Support Programme

Our partnership with PRONABEC (the agency in charge of Beca 18) helped us to implement the school in Santa Clotilde as an exam centre, greatly reducing travel time and costs for 142 students from remote Amazonian communities. Our Beca 18 Academy helped 93 students work on their communications and maths and almost 80% improved their test scores. 90 students in Loreto and 59 in Cusco took the exam at the end of November.

However, the year ended on a worrying note, with the government announcing issues with the 2026 budget. Instead of the 20,000 scholarships originally promised, there are now only 5,000 available.

We had hoped that the expansion of our support programme, would increase uptake of the scholarships in our communities. However, with only half the places available compared to last year, the list of “pre-selected” applicants is far shorter than expected: only eight of our candidates made the list. We are working hard with these young people to ensure they secure the scholarship. We have been trying to support the other hopefuls as best we can and will help anyone who wishes to apply to the programme again in the coming year.

Scholarships Programme

Since the academic year started at the end of March, most of the students have returned to classes. During the long summer break, many have been working or headed back to their communities to support their families.

We are very excited to welcome 25 new students in Cusco this year, thanks to a generous grant. 23 of these joined us from our Pathways Programme and we added two of the unsuccessful Beca 18 candidates. Eighteen of them are already enrolled in colleges and universities, while the other seven are working on getting into their chosen courses. This means we that this year, we will be working 98 students in total, across Cusco and Iquitos.

Running for Change

We have some wonderful supporters running marathons to raise funds for Amantani this year! Anthony – from our long-term partner, Shoe Zone – and Aaran – who raised has raised nearly 1,000 for us through challenge events – will be lacing up their running shoes in London at the end of the month. Five new friends – Andrea, Florian, Ilja, Lars and Michael – head to Peru in May and will run the Lima marathon on our behalf.

Our warmest thanks to all of you who have donated so far! Please do share their pages with your family and friends to help the runners – and our students – achieve their goals. And to the runners themselves: we are so grateful and wish you the best of luck!

Thank you  |  Gracias  |  Añay! 

Dearest GlobalGiving Supporters, 

Higher education is key to breaking the cycle of poverty and opening doors to dignified employment.

As you know, in the heart of rural Peruvian society, many indigenous communities live in extreme poverty and face stark barriers to higher education. Just over 1 in 10 indigenous youth can access tertiary education, and rural students are 75% less likely to continue their studies. Amantani changes these odds by guiding young people—from school to higher education to dignified work—through targeted preparation, safeguarding, and community-led support. That's what this project is about and that's what your support is making real for more and more young Indigenous Peruvians. 

Here's what your support is making possible: 

Beca 18 Preparation Academies (Cusco and Loreto)

- 120 students enrolled across four sites, with family meetings, diagnostics, and vocational activities completed. Our Co-CEO and Projects Leader Thilo says “We’re getting known for it—youth from other communities are now coming to Amantani to ask for help.” 
- Applications-to-registrations this cycle: 226 applications reviewed; 149 registered for the National Pre-Selection Exam. 

Edu, in Iquitos, outlines the applications break down across the projects as follows: 
- Cusco: of the 73 applications → 59 have been registered for Pre-selection Exams (47 Ccorca/Huanoquite; 12 other districts)
- Loreto: of the 153 applications→ 90 have been registered (79 Angoteros/Santa Clotilde/Porvenir; 11 other communities)
- Why does this matters?: Specialised preparation for a competitive state scholarship helps scale access for indigenous youth efficiently, Amantani is channeling limited resources to a high-impact pathway that narrows the rural-urban gap.

Plan de Vida (Life Plan) Workshops
- In Loreto (Santa Clotilde): Second phase life-plan workshops have reached 311 youth and 71 teachers with sessions on transitions to higher education, independent living, employability, future planning, comprehensive sex education, identity, environmental care, and Beca 18 processes. Edu recounts a teacher sharing that hearing a former scholar’s testimony was “powerful for school-age youth.” 
- In Cusco: 27 students visited SENATI (technical institute) as part of vocational orientation.
- Why does this matter?: These workshops build identity and self-esteem, they clarify academic and career paths, and prepare students for scholarship applications and the real costs of study—improving resilience, persistence and success.

A Safeguarding First: Child and Youth Protection in Santa Clotilde (Loreto)
- A formal Child and Youth Protection policy and protocol—co-developed with teachers and tutors—is now in place in Santa Clotilde, thanks to Amantani, a first for the region. "Leaflets for teachers, youth, and parents make rights, responsibilities, and reporting clear." says Thilo. 
- Why does this matter?: In a district where poverty affects nearly 80% of the population and connectivity is limited, safeguarding is foundational to safe participation in academies, residences, and workshops.

Youth leadership and experienced role models:

- Héctor Raúl, a former Beca 18 scholar, now Amantani staff— is helping transform strategy and culture:
- His testimony in Santa Clotilde Plan De Vida sessions boosted motivation and made the pathway tangible; teachers called it “powerful.”
- In Cusco, his suggestion led the youth board to co-lead monthly monitoring—growing youth leadership and accountability.
- Héctor is advancing environmental awareness components in workshops, with teachers supporting youth leaders.

Some early success stories (Becados)

- Cusco graduates: Frank Luis and Jhon Jaime (agricultural technicians, La Salle Urubamba); Justo Lino (accounting technician, Khipu). These milestones show the pathway from aspiration to enrollment to graduation.

So, what now? Where your support goes next:

- Amantani is completing the Beca 18 cycle and publishing results for enrolled students
- Expanding Plan de Vida outreach to additional communities (e.g., Angoteros/Estrecho) and strengthening environmental leadership tracks
- Deepening youth-led monitoring and family engagement
- Continuing safeguarding training and distribution of materials across partner schools

Thank you, as always, for standing with young indigenous Peru. Your partnership is opening doors to higher education—and building the structures that help students get in, stay in, and graduate with dignity.

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If you're moved to do so, GlobalGiving is offering a $500,000 incentive fund to match part or all of the donations recieved on Giving Tuesday, 2nd December, this year: If you've been thinking about your year end gift, Tuesday 2nd December is the day to make the most of that incentive fund. For more information, to discuss your gift or to find out about tax relief on personal or corporate giving please don't hesitate to reach out. We're here to help. 
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Until the next report - ¡Hasta pronto! 
amantani.org