SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Finding out what your friends did over the summer can create a spark for different things.
“And it just caught my attention looking at what they did over the summer while I just didn’t do anything,” Eduardo Ruiz said.
For Ruiz, 15 years ago, that moment ignited a light towards resources to help him go to college.
“So I asked for information, I asked what it’s about, how do I get in it, and that’s how I got connected into Wahupa Upward Bound,” Ruiz said. “It’s a nonprofit organization fully funded through the Department of Education,” Mia Bonafilia Vargas, Program Director of Wahupa Upward Bound, said.
Upward Bound is one of the programs of Wahupa Educational Services.
“And we are funded through TRIO. So, TRIO’s roots is actually built to help our indigenous population in San Diego obtain higher education and a pathway to that,” Bonafilia Vargas said.
The name of the nonprofit also embodies that mission.
“We decided to name it Wahupa because it means ‘enlightenment’ in the Lakota Sioux language. So it’s kind of an homage to give back to that community,” Bonafilia Vargas said.