Sierra Tarahumara Educational Project
Copper Canyon, Chihuahua, Mexico

Rota-Scholars is an exciting program making a difference in the lives of young people living in the the greater Sierra Madre mountains of Chihuahua, Mexico, an area better known as the "Copper Canyon" or "Barranca de Cobre."

For Josefina and Esperanza, leaving their ranchito for the first time was a tremendous and frightening experince. Shown here during a brief stop at Divisadero, both girls have matured tremendously, gained confidence and are some of the best students at the school in Carichi

Working almost exclusively in remote pueblos and ranchitos, we provide scholarships to deserving indigenous and mestizo students, most of whom are female Tarahumara Indians. In many cases the parents of our students can neither read nor write but they understand the world around them is changing and an education is needed for their children to progress - an education that these mostly subsistence-farmer parents would be hard-pressed to provide. Note: Rota-Scholars does not discriminate on race, sex, religion or anything else, most supported students are female simply because education has more importance to females than to males in the Sierra Tarahumara.

Workers associated with Rota-Scholars have labored almost two decades to help education in the Sierra. In 2007 John Shellenberger headed up a project to obtain tax exempt status for these efforts and enlisted the aid of multiple Rotary Clubs to provide fund-raising and oversight of the program. Scholarship support continues to be mostly from individuals only a few of whom are Rotarians. Everyone is invited to support one or more kids or to just give small donations of non-designated funds that we  can use for helping education of the neediest students.

The impact of our students on their areas cannot be underestimated. One of them works as a secretary for a United Nations project in a remote region, others have returned as teachers and nurses, in 2007 one lady took her final vows as a Catholic Sister and another young lady recently entered an Order, a young man is working on his bachelors degree in nutrition. These people are and will bring badly needed skills to the Sierra and, more importantly, they serve as role models and prove that an education is possible for even the most humble and poor. Your help is making this possible, please do assist us.

ROTA-SCHOLARS is a qualified 501(c)(3) organization

Federal tax identification number: 26-0426525.

There are no fees or administrative charges.
100% of all donations are used for scholarships.

For more information, you can write us at:

Rota-Scholars
7100 Redwood Blvd.  #200
Novato, CA. 94945
telephone 415-898-3130
or email us at:

Contact: Rota-Scholars
7100 Redwood Blvd.  #200
Novato, CA. 94945
telephone 415-898-3130
E-Mail: