CHRISTMAS IN TORO TORO

Dear Friends,

It is hard to believe Christmas is only a month away!!! If you supported “Pro-Navidad” last year, thank you – you helped raise more than $2000.

For the past six years, Volunteer Bolivia has organized a Christmas campaign “Pro-Navidad”. For the first 5 years we were in the villageKami, then last year we travelled to the small Andean village of Toro Toro. of This year we will once again be celebrating the holidays in Toro Toro. We would like to give a small gift to the children and food baskets with staples such as rice, sugar and powdered milk to the families.

WHY TORO TORO??

Over the years we have developed a special relationship with the village residents and the area’s amazing natural beauty. We, and our volunteers, have benefited from the both the kindness and generosity of the families we have met and stayed with. Christmas is a great time and opportunity to give back to the community.

Please consider joining us this year, even the smallest donation can help tremendously! We also encourage you to pass this information to friends and family. All help is appreciated.

If anyone is interested in seeing pictures of last year’s festivities please visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/71377790@N0

To donate please contact us at volunteerbolivia@gmail.com or www.volunteerbolivia.org

BUILDING FENCES

Emily Ulrich came to Bolivia for a "gap year" experience and spent Fall 2006 living and working in Cochabamba with volunteer Bolivia. Already speaking Italian, she quickly learned Spanish and became a volunteer at Mis Huellitas. Huellitas is a children's center for neighborhood kids where they can spend the day while their mothers work as maids in the large condominiums nearby.

As most volunteers do Emily quickly fell in love with the kids and became an integral part of the teaching team. Her days were filled with caring for the smallest children in the center some of which are only months old!!! She quickly realized that the center needed a fenced in area where the smallest kids could run and jump and play safely.

In December Emily returned to the United States and made contact with her former high school. When they heard about her experiences and the need for a fence they began to raise money for the project. They raised $us 2,200 with various fundraisers!!


The money has arrived and the families whose children go to the center have organized several work days to build the fence but more on that in the next posting.

Physiotherapy in Bolivia

Just a quick post to let everyone know that Pascale Baumann a Canadian physioterapist who worked in two of our volunteer posts in 2006-2007 has written an article for Physiotherapy Today about her time with us. below is a taste of the article and you can see the whole article by clicking on the link at the end of the article.

"In September 2006, I left Thunder Bay for Bolivia carrying only a backpack, Reciprocating Gait Orthosis, and other assorted physiotherapy tools. Before leaving, I could count the things I knew about Bolivia on one hand. I knew that it is landlocked, one of the poorest countries in Latin America, and that for the first time its people have recently elected an indigenous president. But Bolivia came to mean so much more to me. Over six months, I learned the language which opened many doors, lived with a Bolivian family, joined the local volleyball and swim teams, and explored the country from the high Andes to the Amazon jungle. The people along the way taught me about the difficulties they are faced with every day – such as having no drinkable water, the regressing jungle resulting in the loss of hunting grounds and the fight to grow coca. At the same time they also showed me their strong family bonds, culture, survival skills, and how to fish for piranhas! I felt privileged to visit and live in little communities that hadn’t seen many ‘white people and blue eyes’. Without a doubt, the six months in Bolivia were a roller coaster, emotionally and physically, and raised more questions than answers." To read more click here

News From Bolivia

Many of our volunteers, especially the long term ones, write asking how they can keep up on the political happenings in Bolivia larga distancia. There are a number of websites and blog out there which you should check out.

My favorite at the moment is http://boliviarising.blogspot.com/ where Fred Fuentes posts great information and analysis on the current government.

Another long time favorite is www.democracyctr.org with a humorous blog that covers both Bolivian and international issues.

For those who haven't forgotten their Spanish I recommend, checking out www.bolpress.com which carries great articles from a number of well-known Bolivian politicians and journalists.

Last but not least I would recommend Indymedia Bolivia the Bolivian part of the world wide Indymedia empire!!! www.bolivia.indymedia.org

Hope you find these sites a start in keeping up with the happenings here in the llajta.

Peace

Volunteer Bolivia

Visiting Spanish Teachers

For the next 2 and a half weeks Volunteer Bolivia will be hosting a group of 23 Spanish language teachers from Ohio State University's Summer Program SSAST. The teachers will be participating in linguistics courses in the morning and visiting different educational projects and schools in the afternoons. They will also travel for three days to Lake Titicaca and La Paz to learn about Bolivia and spend a relaxing weekend on the lake.

While in Cochabamba the group will be living with Bolivian families and enjoying this beautiful sun drenched valley. This is the first time Volunteer Bolivia and Bolivia Cultura have hosted the SSAST program and we look forward to their time here.

BENEFIT FROM CUSTOMIZED LANGUAGE CLASSES, VOLUNTEER WORK, AND A HOMESTAY

by Sara O'Neill Kohl During May through July of 2003 I participated in a program located in Cochabamba, Bolivia run by Lee Cridland and Javier Molina. Voluntarios Bolivia is a personalized combination of Spanish language classes, volunteer work, and homestay with a local family. Working with Voluntarios Bolivia gave me the opportunity to learn far more about the culture and people of the country than I could have otherwise. The language classes at Voluntarios Bolivia are customized to your level and are either small groups (less than four students) or one-on-one. The teachers team-teach; one focuses more on con­versation and the other on grammar and structural concepts. The goal of the language program is not just to teach you Spanish to commu­nicate but also to help you understand the cultural context. Often lessons con­sisted of discussions of current political issues or trips to the market. While in Cochabamba I stayed with a wonderful Bolivian family that treated me as one of their own children. "We had meals together, went to el campo on the weekends, and I quickly became a mem­ber of the family. My Spanish improved rapidly thanks to the total immersion experience. My family was always patient but gently pushed me to get beyond feel­ings of shyness in order to learn as much Spanish as I could. They also had a strong connection to the rural village where the mother was from and taught me about the struggles and political success of the campesinos and the movement for Indigenous rights in general. The volunteer work I did while in Bolivia helped to solidify my connection to the community and gave me another chance to use my Spanish. I worked at a daycare center located in the main market, Canaritos Pampenos. The center was founded by three women who saw the need in the community for this type of program. Many of the children who attended the center had parents who

worked at stalls in the market and had no safe place to do their schoolwork or relax and play. The opportunity to learn from people I never otherwise would have known was a central component of my experience in Bolivia. The directors of Voluntarios Bolivia have connections to many social service organizations and NGOs operat­ing throughout Cochabamba and will work with you to create a customized volunteer experience. I would highly recommend Voluntarios Bolivia as a program for people who want to learn Spanish while getting involved in the community. The integrated and participatory approach to teaching about language and culture is an opportunity to

get to know Bolivia, and that is an experi­ence you will never forget.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Lee Cridland, Co-Director Volunteer Bolivia Casilla 2411, Calle Ecuador 342 Cochabamba, Bolivia Tel. 011-39 591-452-6028 Fax. 011-39 591-452-9459 info@volunteerbolivia.org http://www.volunteerbolivia.org

Sara O'Neill Kohl is currently working in adult literacy in Chicago and would love to return to Bolivia soon. Contact her at sokohl@gmail.com.