Volunteering: Life in Cochabamba, Bolivia

As a part of my six months in South America, I wanted to experience volunteering for at least two weeks to a month.  After researching many organizations and connecting with the Unitarian Universalist Association, I chose Proyecto Horizonte.  

(Please note that I don’t have the ability to add photos now, so these will come in their own post later this week!)

About the Organization

Proyecto Horizonte is a non-profit organization that serves the community of Ushpa Ushpa (1,500), south of Cochabamba, Bolivia.  The three main areas are health, education, and community development.  There’s a health clinic that includes everything from doctor to dentist to pharmacy, a school that serves children from infancy to 18 (about 600), and many community services.  I’ve been working in education and community development.

My Volunteer Experience - Education and Women’s Group

Five days a week, I worked with a local teacher to provide after school assistance to children between the ages of 6 to 14.  This includes helping children with their writing, reading comprehension, math or geography -- all in Spanish.  I had the opportunity to work specifically with two students, who have challenges with writing and reading.  

Besides the in-class work, I have been doing research and writing for the women’s group, Tantakuna.  Tantakuna is a group of women who are supported by Proyecto Horizonte and who have their own microenterprises: kiosks, a bakery, and handmade crafts.  Tantakuna empowers these women by providing personal and social support, skill and financial training, and group support through weekly meetings.  Currently, they are looking to increase the sustainability of the group and open marketing through exporting the crafts to Germany or the US.  For this group, I’ve done grant research (If you or anyone you know has any ideas for funding, please let me know via email - ashley.lacy@gmail.com), blurb writing for the website and catalog, and interviews with the women themselves in order to get to know them and to create personal blurbs for each one.  The blurbs or bios will be used to create material to share their stories and market their work.  

Additionally, I worked with the president to create an annual report in English for Proyecto Horizonte.  I had the opportunity to interview directors in order to gather information, something that I really enjoyed.

Other activities included:  
- Working and helping out with Dia del Niño (Children’s Day) - A yearly day to celebrate children, somewhat like Mother or Father’s Day, but with more sugar and toys

- Participating in the biannual staff and volunteers excursion - A trek out to a national park, complete with rappelling and initiation rituals which included dressing new employees in cloth diapers and dousing their faces in flour

- Assisting and coaching during a monthly soccer tournament - The tournament was held for six hours and included 70 children.  My team, Uruguay, won second place!  (Through no fault of my own - has anyone seen me play sports?)

Living with a Family

As a part of my life in Bolivia, I also decided to stay with a family.  I highly recommend this as you not only get to practice your Spanish, but instantly belong to a group of caring individuals.  Additionally, my host mom was an incredible cook and she and her son invited me to fairs, the movies, and birthday parties.  In this way, I got to know the entire family and better understand the Bolivian culture.  

Strikes or Celebrations

I’ve decided that although I get frustrated with some aspects of life in Bolivia, such as frequent blockades, marches, and other strikes, I also enjoy their ability to celebrate life (sometimes almost too much!).  The last two birthday parties I went to were 10 and 12 hours, respectively.  

I got to the point during my last week of work where I just wanted to go to work.  Every week, there was some type of strike or blockade that made it difficult to reach my job.  Additionally, Tuesday, May 1 was Labor Day and due to all of the strikes and unrest in the city, the president declared that Monday was also a holiday.  I heard mixed feelings from Bolivians on this and I was disappointed because I wanted to work on my interviews with the women of Tantakuna.

The Best Part

My favorite part was understanding and experiencing how Proyecto Horizonte positively affects the community, especially through my work with children and through interviews with the women's group, Tantakuna.  The interviews go toward creating bios for each woman, material that will be used to share their stories and market their work.  I felt like my work was valuable and although small, contributed to a larger whole, which was improving the lives of those who live in the community of Ushpa Ushpa.

Other Experiences in Cochabamba:

Day-to-Day Challenges

- Blockades/Marches/Strikes/Festivals - Every week, there was something that made it more difficult to move around.  The public and private transportation were on strike multiple days to protest a new law that would limit who would be able to enter the city based on license plate numbers.  As an example, in the matter of 10 minutes, there would be about 5 different buses, taxi trufis or other such transportation that could get me to where I wanted to go.  It was a little ridiculous.
- Electric Shower - Yes it was electric, and was not intuitive that if you turn the water on just slightly, you get hot water, but if you turn it on more, you get cold. 

- Sinks without Hot Water - At least they use soap.

- No Toilet Paper - This is a rare commodity.  Bring it with you.

- Cold a Month - For some reason, I have gotten a minor cold in each  country that I visit.  I hope this trend will stop.

Some Culture

- Black Market “La Cancha” - A massive market where you can find just about anything.  The great thing is that this street market is divided into sections, so you can find your jeans, flowers, shampoo, electronics or dried llama fetuses in the appropriate section without wasting the entire day.

- Dried Llama fetuses - They’re everywhere in the market and they are used to bless your house.

- Señoras de Pollera - Many women in Bolivia still wear the traditional garb: two long braids tied together with llama hair or other decoration, a pleated skirt down to their knees, open-toed sandals with small heels, a large shawl and a button-up blouse.

- Taxi Trufis - Imagine squeezing into a volkswagen hatchback with 9 strangers.  It’s tight and can be slightly awkward.  This is how I got to work every day.


Next:  Photos from my life in Cochabamba my experience in La Paz, and my trip to Peru with Laurie, a good friend from college.

Ciao,
Ashley