One week +

I've now been in Bolivia for just over a week and so far it has been different than either of my previous trips. Especially at the project. Lucho and Lorna are entrusting me with more responsibility and giving me more free reign to develop the computer program as I see fit, which means I have some planning to do. Fortunately my friend Mary Lynn who is in charge of the Secondary School is returning tomorrow and she hopefully will help in prioritizing things and help me to see what is most important.

I went out this week to buy my uniforms for school, all of the students and staff wear special uniforms, so since I'm joining the staff, I need to fit in. I bought 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants for only ~$40, so I was feeling pretty good about that, since in the States it would cost well over $100. Ah, the benefits of the third world . . .

My Spanish is much better than last week when I clumsily muttled through with people. I'm now conversing a lot with my colleagues and able to think faster than before. The brain is still working overtime, but its nice to switch back to English at night for dinner at Lucho/Lorna's.

We've also had two "sur" cold fronts since I have been here. We had one while I was in Santa Cruz and the other came yesterday and brought a lot of rain, the street almost flooded because it was coming down so fast. And this was as I was walking to morning devotionals!

Lucho feels enlightened as I've showed him the "bcc" field in emails. He said he feels like he has come out of the cave and joined the rest of 21st century computer people. Anyway, that's all for now!

Life in Bolivia thus far

Well, I'm here. I arrived on Wednesday morning without my luggage and spent the day with a friend (my luggage did arrive yesterday though). I'm staying with another American missionary in Santa Cruz who's wife has gone back to the States for a week. It's nice staying with him, a little bit more quiet than the house where my friend lives with his whole family (6 people in all). I've been going over there for lunch each day and then my friend has helped me to take care of the stuff I need to do while I'm here.

The night after I got here a sur (cold front) came, so it was pretty cold for Bolivia yesterday (60's) and overcast with some rain. It helped me to sleep well, I slept 12 hours the first night I was here since I was exhausted from my overnight travels. That weather continues today and will stay that way until Sunday according to the local forecast. Trinidad will probably be cooler as well, which will help in adjusting to the heat.

I've been cleaning out the cobwebs on my Spanish, it was pretty rusty when I got here, but it's coming back. Fortunately my Bolivian friend speaks pretty good English, so we've had no problems communicating.

I'm flying up to Trinidad early on Sunday morning, I'll make it in time for church there. That about all to report for now. Blessings to you all!

Education in the third world - follow up

I have done some more research and located the actual bill that is in the US House of Representatives. You can read the bill on their website at www.house.gov. It's Bill H.R. 2092 (Education for All Act). Just glancing at it quickly it looks pretty good. It authorizes the President to give $1 billion starting next year, increasing by half a billion dollars for the next six years. This is something we should ALL support. Write your congressman and have them approve this bill so that we can give kids a chance in countries with little or no basic education. . .countries like Bolivia. There is a parallel bill introduced in the Senate as well, Senate Bill #1259, but if it never passes the house it doesn't matter.

the State of Bolivia's Government

I know all of you are very concerned about the state of Bolivian politics and the recent turmoil that has taken place over the last few years. There are two articles just out - one by the US Council on Foreign Relations and one by the Democracy Center that discuss the state of Bolivia's political shift. I would advise reading both as the authors are at odds on some issues, due mainly to inaccuracies and misrepresentation of facts. Both articles are available here in PDF form. I think it's easy to misread situations and I think it's hard for people to come down for a week or two or even a month and think they understand what's going on. Bolivia's problems go much deeper than surface level and have historical and socio-economic factors.

I have read them both and probably would side with the Democracy Center's view more, they report from Bolivia and live there learning everyday what Bolivians really want. I think the "jury is still out" on what Bolivia's future holds and whether this transformation will turn Bolivia into another Cuba or something similar to South Africa. As the historical events noted in the DC's report, Bolivia has been brutalized by foreign powers since the Spanish came in the 1500's and not long ago it had its own authoritarian regimes involving dictatorships that resulted in torture, disappearances and suspension of key civil liberties -- that were supported by the United States.

There is still a large portion of Bolivians who have not forgotten this and I don't really believe Bolivia will wholeheartedly embrace outright socialism. In fact I would argue Bolivia's democracy is stronger than the US with more people participating in the election process and in national politics. As you'll read in the DC's analysis, many of Morales' most criticized policies have been resurrected from past administrations, long before Hugo Chavez was on the scene. After a tense start, it appears the sides are starting to find some middle ground that each can live with and I hope and pray this helps dig Bolivia out of it's economic hole and puts it on a par with the rest of South America. That said, anything is possible and I will be very attentive to the events going on.

Education in the third world

77 million children go without school because neither their families nor their governments have the resources to provide them with a basic education.
-Today's ONE update

If you needed another reason to understand what I'm doing in Bolivia, this is the exact problem the La Palmera project seeks to solve. Many children in Bolivia are among the 77 million and it's because the public education system there is PATHETIC. The Bolivian Government estimates that 80% of all children drop out of school before high school .

The rural areas like Trinidad are the worst hit because they are agricultural areas that depend on extra help for farming/ranching. Because they are family businesses, kids often are asked to help out after a certain age, leaving them doomed to repeat the cycle of an agrarian society and continued poverty. That is what I am fighting to overcome to give kids an opportunity to study computers, something that might really bring them out of poverty.

And if you still haven't visited the ONE website, please do so, there are lots of great things you can support without doing much. Write a letter to your congressman or at least sign the petition to end poverty.