After thirty-two hours of travel and transits, four stodgy aeroplane meals and one four hour delay, I finally arrived in Cochabamba in the Central Highlands region of Bolivia on Monday morning. I'm digging deep for my university Spanish which is hidden somewhere under some lukewarm French, patchy Sinhala and the odd word or two of Krio. I haven't actually been to South America since 2002 when I spent my final university summer in Ecuador. And I can definitely say that 10+ years on, it is NOT just like riding a bike!
For the last four days I've been visiting Tearfund Bolivia's ICS projects and meeting with the staff, volunteers and partner organisations in Cochabamba. Tearfund is one of ICS's eight delivery agencies, with volunteers currently in Rwanda, Burundi and Bolivia. My visit is broadly focused on providing programme quality support as well as capturing examples of good practice and (learning through) challenges that can then be shared across the consortium. The two main objectives for this visit were to explore Tearfund's model for shared working and learning between the British and Bolivian volunteers and to learn more about their education-focused projects, identifying ways in which they are impacting on the partner organisations and beneficiaries.
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| Cristo de la Concordia - apparently 44cm higher than the one in Rio de Janeiro. |
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| My attempt at eating Cochabamba's traditional "Sil Pancho". I managed about a sixth. |
The current team of thirteen British volunteers and seven Bolivians are volunteering across three projects that are each linked to a local partner organisation. All three projects (and partners) target vulnerable children and young women, and are based around the theme of education but with additional outcomes including improved health (physical, mental and social), child protection and prevention/protection against domestic and sexual abuse.
ICS volunteers based with the partner organisation "Oeser" divide their time between activities in the nursery and primary school in one of Cochabamba's poorest communities. I was shocked to find that Oeser transports the nursery school children in from the local prison where it is the norm for children to live with their parents. As well as providing general support to the staff and children, the ICS volunteers have been organising various activities largely linked to health and nutrition. While I was there they ran a variety of hygiene workshops, teaching the children how to clean their teeth, wash their hands and blow their noses.
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| Teeth cleaning... |
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| Hand washing... |
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| And nose blowing... |
Just outside Cochabamba in the rural community's red light district, a small team of ICS volunteers are based at "Fortin de Niño" (aka "Children's Fort"). The parents of the children who come to the centre often work long hours (or even days at a time) away from home so the children are left to fend for themselves. The children receive at least one nutritious meal a day, receive homework help and extra classes such as English and computers. More than anything, the centre provides a safe place for them to come and escape their harsh day-to-day life and just be children, so sports activities and other games are also a regular feature.
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| The deserted streets around Fortin de Niño |
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| Learning about the different parts of a computer (me included!) |
The third project is based in the centre of Cochabamba, linked to the local partner organisation "Mosoj Yan". Divided between three main centres, the project mainly targets vulnerable girls and young women, including those living and working on the street and those who have been subject to domestic violence and/or sexual abuse. While I was there, the ICS volunteers organised an event to raise awareness about domestic violence and provide training on self-defence. Many of the local university students attended and as a result, signed up to take part in an action research study about bullying and violence in schools.
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| Self-defence workshop in one of the main squares in Cochabamba |
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| Este no es Halloween - This isn't Halloween (see make-up). |
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| Este es la vida real - This is real life. |
I was really impressed by the dedication of all the volunteers in delivering such innovative activities (especially in the face of language barriers), and the hard work of David and Marco who work for Tearfund Bolivia and have built strong relationships with the partner organisations.
I'm now off to La Paz where I'll be visiting International Service's ICS projects next week, but before that I'm heading to Lake Titicaca for a weekend of high altitude boating and hiking....
