The Unidad Académica Campesina-Carmen Pampa (UAC-Carmen Pampa) is a satellite campus of the Catholic University

Catholic University

A Catholic University is a private university run by the Catholic Church or by Catholic organizations like religious institutes. Those with closer ties to the Holy See are called pontifical universities....

 of Bolivia founded in 1993 to serve the rural poor of Bolivia. It is located in Carmen Pampa

Carmen Pampa

Carmen Pampa is a community in Bolivia situated 112 km from La Paz. Carmen Pampa is in the municipality of Coroico, the capital of the Nor Yungas Province of the La Paz Department, Bolivia. According to Holdridge life zones classification , it is ecologically a premontane tropical moist forest. The...

, a small farming community 12 km. from the town of Coroico

Coroico

Coroico is a town in Nor Yungas Province, in the La Paz Department of western Bolivia.-History:Coroico Viejo was founded above the Kori Huayco River...

.

History

The UAC-Carmen Pampa was founded on October 3, 1993, by Sister Damon Nolan, a nun of the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Third Order of Saint Francis. It started as part of a consortium of rural campuses of the Catholic University of Bolivia called UACs (Unidades Académicas Campesinas), created to educate the rural poor, and in 2010 became an independent satellite campus of the Catholic University of Bolivia. The university first offered technical degrees in agronomy, veterinary/animal science and nursing. In 1998 the UAC-Carmen Pampa augmented its offering to a licenciatura (BS-equivalent). In 2003 the UAC-Carmen Pampa began offering a licenciatura degree in primary education, and in 2006 started a technical degree in ecotourism. The UAC-Carmen Pampa also offers a remedial one-year program of college preparatory classes called pre-university.

In 1999, the Carmen Pampa Fund was established to provide support for the UAC-Carmen Pampa. It is located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In 2003, the United Nations recognized the UAC-Carmen Pampa as an institution with "best practices in poverty eradication." The UAC-Carmen Pampa has also been recognized for its efforts toward ending poverty and increasing food sovereignty for rural people. In May of 2011, the education and health committee of the Legislative Assembly of Bolivia recognized each of the UACs as an Institución Meritoria del Estado (Meritorious Institution of the State) for their work in higher education.

Mission

The mission of the UAC-Carmen Pampa is make higher education available to young people of rural areas and those who are, for whatever reason, are unable to pursue such studies; prepare men and women who, inspired by principals of Christian vocation, are called to the service of others, with a high quality professional training and a commitment to Christian principals to guide their decisions; be in constant search for truth and goodness by way of learning/apprenticeship, research, and community extension; develop extension programs through specific projects that meet the needs felt in our communities; and integrate the successes of the university community into the countryside, strengthening and developing progress and socio-economic liberation, through academic, research and extension activities.

External links

• UAC-Carmen Pampa (in Spanish)
• Carmen Pampa Fund
• Catholic University of Bolivia (in Spanish)