YES, YOU DO NEED ONE!!

How US Citizens Get a Visa to Bolivia in 7 Easy Steps

Volunteers coming into our program are always asking about visa requirements. For most western countries you can get a 90 day visa once in Bolivia but for US citizens the situation is a bit different. Below is the information provided to us by the Bolivian Embassy. You can either do the paperwork in the US at the nearest Bolivian Embassy or bring it all and pay the fee in the airport once you land in Bolivia. It is just about paperwork so read on....


Tourist Visa Requirements for U.S. Citizens

1. The sworn statement for visa application form
2. A passport valid for six months
3. Hotel reservation or invitation letter
4. Photocopy of roundtrip ticket or travel itinerary
5. Proof of economic solvency
6. Payment of $135 visa issuance fee
7. International yellow fever vaccination certificate

CONFUSED??? A FEW MORE DETAILS


1. THE SWORN STATEMENT FOR VISA APPLICATION FORM . If the tourist does not already have the application form, he/she will be able to obtain one at each immigration checkpoint.

2. VALID PASSPORT. The passport must have a validity of not less than 6 months.

3. HOTEL RESERVATION. In case the tourist is unsure about which hotel he/she will stay at, the immigration officers will provide the tourist with a list of hotels to choose from, according to the tourist's travel budget. A tourist who arrives in the country bearing a letter of invitation shall submit such letter to the immigration officer.

4. PHOTOCOPY OF ROUNDTRIP TICKET OR TRAVEL ITINERARY. In the event the tourist does not have a photocopy of their ticket, he/she shall show a ticket stating his/her return to the United States or to a third country. This information will be recorded in the sworn statement for visa application form.

5. ECONOMIC SOLVENCY. Credit card or equivalent, which must be valid for the duration of the planned stay in Bolivia. In the event the tourist does not have either a credit card or an invitation letter, he/she must be in possession of at least US$50 per day for the length of the anticipated stay in Bolivia.

6. CASH PAYMENT. The US$135 visa fee payment shall be made in cash. No credit or debit cards will be accepted.

7. INTERNATIONAL YELLOW FEVER VACCINATION CERTIFICATE. In case the U.S. citizen does not have an international yellow fever vaccination certificate, he/she must sign an affidavit exempting the Bolivian state from any liability in case of yellow fever contagion within the Bolivian territory. This provision shall apply until further notice.

College Courses Summer 2008

We have busy during the month of June with visits from both Rutgers University and Colorado College.

Beyond Development: Andean Social Movements and Their Struggle for Autonomy was the title of Colorado College's 4 week course in Bolivia. The goal of the course was to get students to think critically about the effects of neoliberal policies and the rise of "left" governments in the Andean Region. We visited women organizations, artist cooperatives, student lead social movements and environmental activitists. In an attempt to explore and understand the radical critiques of "western development". The group of 12 studetns left Bolivia with a deeper understand of the country and with, we hope, a new perspective on the United States.

Rutgers University students participated in a 6 week course called Law, Justice and Rights. This course combined lectures by various guest speakers with a serivce learning experience in the Zona Sur of Cochabamba. All 13 students lived with Bolivian host families as well as traveling as a group to La Paz, Chapare and Toro Toro.

We hope that both groups found their time in Bolivia worthwhile and Volunteer Bolivia looks forward to working with both universities in the future.

Paula - A Librarian Volunteer

I came to Cochabamba in July 2003 and haven't left! The city is small and cosmopolitan, it doesn't have many tourists which makes it a nice place to be as a foreigner. It is an easy city to live in, safe, a lot of fun places to hang out and wonderful people.

Bolivia itself continues to surprise me, even after almost 5 years. If you are interested in travel then it's the perfect place as there is so much to see (Here´s me - second from the left - visiting Torotoro national park on a trip organized by Javier and Bolivia Cultura travel).

I knew nothing about Bolivia before I came here and I kind of preferred it that way as I wanted to discover it for myself. I guess I probably would have liked to understand the political situation a little more as within 3 months the government fell and I didn't believe anything the Australian government or press was telling me as it wasn't based in the reality I was witnessing. I would recommend these sites to read if you are interested:

www.upsidedownworld.org
www.democracyctr.org/blog
www.nickbuxton.info
www.boliviatransitionprojecti.org

and if you can get your hands on John Pilgers documentary "The War on Democracy" I would see that.

In terms of Volunteer Bolivia as far as my experience is concerned, nothing but positive. Although I didn't live with a family I have lots of friends who have and had wonderful experiences, and there was no problem with them going out late or organising other things to do, you just have to tell them and be upfront with them about what you expect and what you want.

What I can tell you about is the Spanish school and the volunteer experience. Cochabamba is a great place to learn Spanish because the Bolivian accent is easy to understand and people are very patient with you. I took lessons at another school for the first 2 years here and then changed and noticed the difference immediately. The school has some of the best teachers in the city, they tailor your classes to what you want to do and learn so you set the agenda. I learnt so much in a short time there that I cant recommend them highly enough.

Volunteering literally changed my life. The great thing about VB is that they work only with very small projects which have little or no outside help so you don't feel like you are swamped by huge NGOs and usually you are the only volunteer and you are really in the community. I'm a librarian so through VB I started volunteering in a small public library. After about 2 years of doing this I'm now working with a network of public libraries, founded during that time, to train librarians, find funding for resources and doing reading programs. So my life has taken quite a dramatic turn.

Both Lee and Javier have been a huge support to me, emotionally, professionally and personally. I'm independently working now and am outside the program but could not be doing what I am doing without the support they gave and still give me.

VB cares a lot about Bolivia and, more than other organisations, put a lot back into the country. Your experience here will be positive if you are prepared to be challenged and take what ever comes. The homestay option will help your Spanish enormously and you will get to see another side of Bolivia you wont get to see anywhere else.

Paula

CHRISTMAS 2007

BY GEORGINA GIBSON

We hope you had a joyous holiday season, a Happy New Year and that 2008 brings us peace in the world.

We want to thank you for your generous donations to our annual Christmas campaign “Pro-Navidad”. Yet again it was a great success and with your help we raised over $us 1,700 and were able to give gifts to over 400 children and their mothers.

The campaign officially started bright and early one morning when the gang made their way to the huge outdoor market, La Cancha. With our shopping lists in hand and fighting the enormous crowds, we left hours later with balls, dolls, teddy bears, games and much, much more.

After a second shopping excursion the next day, we set about sorting and packing all the presents for Toro Toro.

The following day we packed ourselves (Georgina, Laura, Daniela, Carola, Claudia and Javier) and the gifts into the 4x4; and set about on our journey through the countryside to Toro Toro, giving biscuits to all the children we saw along the way.

As we arrived the crowds of children and mums had already began to gather. We unpacked the presents, blew up the balls and arranged the baskets of food for the mums. When we were ready we began to distribute the presents. It was amazing and humbling to see the joy on the children’s faces as they scurried off with a quiet gracias.

Once the gifts were distributed in town we re-packed the 4x4 and went to a nearby village. Arriving in a car full to the brim with balls, dolls and games it was hard not to feel like Santa and his elves with the 4x4 acting as the sleigh. It was wonderful to watch children excitably running down the road as word spread that we were there.

The next day we woke up early feeling good about how well everything had gone so far. Before we left Toro Toro we made hot chocolate and gave cookies to all the children.

As we still had lots of presents to give out which we decided to distribute to the children we saw on our way back home to Cochabamba. The journey back home was unforgettable. We all had our eyes peeled for kids, when we saw them we shouted for them in our newly learned Quechua to come and get their presents. They ran as fast as they could and were all so pleased with their new gifts - the dolls and the soccer balls were especially popular.

After the last present had been given out, we were soon back in the hustle and bustle of Cochabamba. Our time in Toro Toro was incredible and whole experience made us all realise what Christmas is really about.

Thank you once again for supporting the “Pro-Navidad” Christmas campaign and Peace in 2008,

From all of us!!!

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.