A graduate of Harvard College and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Manuel Marquez, MD, works as a tour director with Insight Vacations by Destination America. Outside of work, Manuel Marquez, MD, remains actively involved with the community through his support of several organizations, including Native Future, which works with indigenous tribes in Panama to conserve both land and culture.

1. The Native Future Wounaan
Higher Education Fund
Manuel Marquez MD

2. Introduction
• A graduate of Harvard College and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Manuel
Marquez, MD, works as a tour director with Insight Vacations by Destination America.
Outside of work, Manuel Marquez, MD, remains actively involved with the community
through his support of several organizations, including Native Future, which works with
indigenous tribes in Panama to conserve both land and culture.
Part of Native Future’s work involves providing opportunities for advanced studies. These
include the Wounaan Higher Education Fund, which provides scholarships for secondary
students in certain rural Panamanian communities, as well as for Wounaan students who
are studying at a university.
High school education in Panama is expensive because students must leave their villages
and procure both transportation and housing, and the Wounaan Higher Education Fund
provides students with motivation to continue their education. The scholarships from this
fund are designed to help Wounaan students develop the skills they need to assume
leadership roles. The money supports students like a young man who became the first
Wounaan lawyer in 2011, and who now fights diligently to protect Wounaan rights.