It is hard to believe that nearly 7 weeks have passed since I arrived in Bolivia. I’ve spent the vast majority of my time so far working closely with COBAGUAL’s team leader and sole full time employee, Felipe Quispe. So far we’ve focused on networking with other NGO’s in Bolivia that can provide us with skills, advice, and to ensure our success once we begin work in the beneficiary community.
Here is a brief week by week summary of our activities since I arrived in the country.
Week 1 – June 4-9: I arrived traveling overland via Peru, and Felipe and I took advantage of the opportunity to visit some of Jaraña´s projects in Oruro and Cochabamba. We had several meetings with Jaraña to discuss how we will collaborate throughout the year, and while passing through Santa Cruz de la Sierra, started with my visa application to stay in the country.
Week 2 – June 10-16: We mostly focused on reviewing and refining the project plan in Ascensión de Guarayos, and continuing my visa application in Santa Cruz.
Week 3 – June 17-24: We traveled to Ginger´s Paradise organic farm to learn more about their gardens and composting latrines.
Week 4 – June 25-30: Began the week in Mairana, Bolivia having strategic planning meetings with two ex-employees (Juan and Irwin) of a Bolivian NGO who are willing to provide us crucial technical support. We finished the week in Guarayos with more project planning and our first site visits (since my arrival to Bolivia this year) to the most likely candidates for the beneficiary community, Limoncito and Los Chacos. I also finished phase 1 of my visa application process. Yay!
Week 5 – July 1-7: We spent 5 days in Santa Cruz´s dry Gran Chaco region with Agua Yaku learning an inexpensive method to drill water wells.
Week 6 – July 8-14: Our most frustrating week so far… we attempted to spend more time with Agua Yaku but were unable to coordinate with them due to scheduling conflicts. I also was sick the whole week with a nasty chest cold.
Week 7 – July 15-21: Back in Guarayos, we began planning our approach for implementing a small demonstration project in the town of Ascensión, and developing our strategy for participatory diagnostic studies in the beneficiary community.
Trevor, thank you for helping improve clean water and it's delivery. We are from Denver, Colorado and friends of your parents. And we are going to Bolivia with Outreach International in October. Dan and Beth Whittemore.
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