FEMAP: Juarez nursing school raising funds for scholarship program
A nursing school in Juarez is reaching out to the borderland community for help. The FEMAP nursing school is asking for funds to be able to keep up its scholarship program.
In Cd. Juarez just two blocks from the border 700 nursing students go to school every day.
It’s the FEMAP School of Nursing, run by the Foundation for Community Health and Development.
It’s there where nursing hopefuls study in class just before practicing their skills in the foundation’s neighboring family hospital.
“Right after class we head to the women’s hospital for clinicals so we can practice in the real world,” said Irvin Aguayo, a second-year nursing student at the school who receives the scholarship.
The program is part of the Juarez Autonomous University, and takes about three years to complete.
The cost of those three years can quickly add up
“Each semester costing students about 22,000 pesos, or around $1,200,” said the school’s director, Gloria Molina.
Even with tuition being less than half of UTEP’s the students at the FEMAP nursing can’t always pay for school themselves.
“The Juarez university requires at least 8.5 percent of students to be given scholarships, and we have more than 21 percent of our population benefiting from them,” Molina said.
The FEMAP nursing school right now only has two American students who cross the border to study in Juarez, but it’s something the school is looking to change.
“We’re hoping to bring in more American students to Mexico and get them certified as Registered Nurses in the U.S. after graduating,” Molina explained.
The American students didn’t want to speak on camera, but their Mexican counterparts told ABC-7 the school and its scholarships are what allows them to follow their dreams.
“Everything a person can do to help others is what inspires me to continue learning,” said Laura Calderón, another scholarship student.
FEMAP is holding an alt rock fundraising concert next Saturday in the nursing school itself.
If you’d like to support them you can find more information on their Facebook event page https://www.facebook.com/events/1610524275641507/?ti=icl
