Happy New Year, and Happy Quinceañera (15 years) to Few for Change!

This year’s end marks 15 years of Few for Change!

It’s hard to believe that it was 15 years ago when our founders were wrapping up their semester abroad in Panama and just starting to conceive of the idea of a community program built on providing scholarships to students in the Comara Ngäbe-Buglé. To learn more about Few for Change’s origin story, check out our 10 year anniversary blog post.

As we reflect on the past 15 years, it’s incredible to see how Few for Change has grown and evolved. In our 10 year blog post, we did a feature on Few for Change by the numbers. Those numbers have grown significantly, bringing us to:

  • 139  - The number of students receiving Few for Change scholarships since 2009 (compared to 59 five years ago)

  • 485 - The number of years of school that those scholarships have funded (compared to 156 five years ago)

  • 54 - The number of Few for Change scholarship recipients who have graduated from high school (compared to 14 five years ago)

  • 4 - The number of scholarship recipients that have graduated from university (compared to ZERO 5 years ago!)

  • $340,000 - The amount of money we’ve raised in 15 years to support indigenous education (compared to $90,000 five years ago)

  • 6- The number of Few for Change volunteer coordinators based in Panama - Ramón, Doris, Agripina, Rogelio, Vianca and Sindy (compared to 4 five years ago)

Few for Change students during the 2024 scholarship ceremony, our largest ceremony yet.

As you can see, the number of volunteer coordinators in Panama has increased in the past five years, as well as our funding and reach. What isn’t obvious from the numbers, however, is a significant shift in how we operate and think about decision-making. In 2020, our U.S.-based board attempted to facilitate a strategic planning process with our Ngäbe coordinators while in Panama. We had white boards, post-it notes, and a proposal for a “theory of change” structure. We quickly realized that we had applied far too much of our “gringo” (a term used to describe those from the U.S.) perspective. The concepts simply did not fit with the Ngäbe culture. Instead, we had a very productive conversation about the goals of the organization and how we could ensure that we were meeting the needs of our students and their communities. We realized that while we operated with input from the community, we didn’t have the governance or operational structure to make it a true partnership.

The next day, our Ngäbe coordinators suggested that we have a parallel board structure in the comarca and elected a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. The Ngäbe board has since expanded with two more roles, a Fiscal and Vocal. Both boards now approach the organization’s future collaboratively, co-creating our goals for each year and our vision for the future of Few for Change. For more information on this process and the formation of the Ngäbe Board of Directors, also known as the Junta Directiva, check out our blog post “Decolonizing Few for Change.”

Junta Directiva members Agripina Sandoya (Treasurer), Ramón Pineda (President), Sindy Abrego (Vocal), Vianca Gallardo (Fiscal), Rogelio Montezuma (Secretary) and Doris Gallardo (Vice President) about to begin a day of travel to meet with students in three different regions.

Our volunteers and our structure of working together as a board between two countries make Few for Change unique. The Junta Directiva is what keeps FFC running and ensures that we are addressing the community's needs. As part of our 15-year reflection, we asked each of the Junta Directiva members to reflect on their experience with Few for Change: what motivates them, what has surprised them, and how they see their impact. To learn more about each Junta Directiva member, check out their profiles.

Ramón Pineda, the President of the Junta Directiva, shared that he became involved with Few for Change “to form leaders… we are teaching [students] to fish rather than giving them fish.” Ramón believes that an educated community makes development possible in the comarca. Doris Gallardo, the Vice President, wants to use education to build a future for students from the comarca. She has always done volunteer work because it is for the good of the community. The Few for Change Treasurer, Agripina Sandoya, was struck by the unconditional support that the program gave to the Ngäbe students to help develop the comarca and to create different professional careers for Ngäbe people. She shared: “I believe that there is no other organization like Ari Kuitde Waire (Few for Change in Ngäbere) in the comarca.” The Fiscal, Vianca Gallardo, whose son is a long-time Few for Change scholarship recipient, shared that she has been a supporter for a long time, but formally got involved when there was a specific need to help with bank transfers between the U.S. and Panama. Sindy Abrego, a former Few for Change scholarship recipient herself, said that she took on her new role as Vocal in an effort to “form leaders and help students reach their goals, following my example.”

All Junta Directiva members highlighted the collaborative work between the two countries as one of the things they like most about the organization. Ramón and Sindy both mentioned the mutual respect between the groups, and the fact that suggestions are always welcome. At the end of the day, it all comes back to the students. In Doris’s words, “helping students is the pride of the Junta Directiva.” 

Ramón, Doris and Vianca have all been surprised by how much the organization has grown, from 3 students in 2008 to 76 students in 2024. Ramón and Sindy both shared that they were surprised that they are part of the Junta Directiva at all. Sindy also shared that she was somewhat intimidated by coordinating with the students at first, but that little by little, she is gaining confidence. The Junta Directiva hopes to continue to grow the number of former students who volunteer with and take on leadership roles within the organization.

Students and Junta Directiva members Vianca Gallardo and Doris Gallardo during a Few for Change community trash clean-up day.

All of the Junta Directiva members feel that their participation has positively impacted the organization by supporting the students’ academic growth and development of their leadership capacity through workshops. As Doris explained, “the impact that we have as a Junta Directiva from two countries is significant.” Ramón highlighted his journey from being a volunteer coordinator of the program to the President of the organization, and emphasized some of the major tasks that the Junta Directiva leads, including overseeing scholarship payments, facilitating meetings with students and families, organizing the annual scholarship ceremony, and coordinating workshops for the students.

Few for Change students during a workshop focused on climate change and the environment.

Our Junta Directiva members are exceptionally dedicated to their communities. They work hard to ensure that all of our students take advantage of their scholarships, to their personal benefit and to benefit their communities. As Ramón often says, “this isn’t a scholarship for you, it’s a scholarship for the Comarca.” Agripina shared that her goal “is that all of the students come out prepared to take leadership for development in the comarca. We see the change that Ari Kuitde Waire is making, even though the work [ahead] is significant.” This year, the Junta Directiva aims to facilitate two student workshops, build an office, explore obtaining legal non-profit status in Panama, and continue building the leadership team, drawing largely from current and former Few for Change students.

We look forward to the next 15 years of continued partnership and friendship with the incredibly talented and dedicated Junta Directiva.