Volunteering at Colonia Ecologica

This is taken from a blog entry from two volunteers, Stephanie and Roberto, who went out to work at Colonia at the start of this year.

"Volunteering in Colonia Ecologica has been incredible. We are both happy and motivated. Roberto has immersed himself in his duties with gusto. He is building a thermo-solar panel (to heat water) with a group of 9 kids aged 13 to 20. It´s not easy but he is really dedicated to the task. He teaches from 6 to 7pm every day, on Saturday mornings and on Sunday mornings. He is also busy helping out with the pool which has gone green and other bits and bobs related to construction, water supply and mathematics. There is so much to do... it´s never-ending!


I teach English every day for an hour. With the more advanced kids, I decided to create a magazine in English. I divided them into groups of 4 and each group is in charge of a section. We have Food, Fashion, Sport, World Music and Movie People. It´ll have to be entirely written in English. I am really impressed with this group. They are really great! The other group (the beginners) are a handful... some are really eager to learn more vocab but there are 2 very disruptive boys in the class who distract the others and make unhelpful comments during the entire lesson. C´est la vie. If they learn only 2 new words a day, I´m still happy!

When I don't teach English, I play with the younger kids and a really tiny puppy (with more fleas than hairs). We are at the Colonia for about 4 hours each day, after the kids come back from school. 35 kids sleep and live in the Colonia (ie have no parents) while about 60 come only in the afternoons and go home at 7pm. The Colonia is very well maintained, I wish you could see it. They have a main building with the bedrooms, kitchen, dining room; and then about 8 or so "study rooms" which are little individual houses or huts with a different theme in each: Africa, Chalet (made entirely of wood), Numeros (with lots of numbers painted on the walls), a teepee etc and they spend about 3 hours each afternoon in their study rooms doing homework. The garden is big with a pool, a football pitch and a big area for cultivation where they have sugar cane and maze for now. The group in charge of gardening prepared two more patches of earth last week which will be planted with something this week. No idea what yet.

The Colonia is a very positive, moving place, where the kids learn about responsibilities, work, study and team work. Of course they fight and there are tears but overall you can tell they love to be here. Kiko and Carmen are the two adults in charge. They have three biological children, but the others also call them Mamá and Papá. Kiko and Carmen have sacrificed everything for the Colonia: no weekends, no holidays, no time off, no savings, no earnings and no privacy. They used to be teachers, but 14 years ago gave it all up. Now they have over 30 sons and daughters and have managed to grow the Colonia from a tiny collection of tents to a well-established, safe, constructive, growing environment.

Of course the Colonia requires a lot of help from outside: donations of clothes, books, pens, food, you name it, come in at irregular intervals from people in Cochabamba. They also receive money from the US, the UK and Switzerland which allows them to buy the stuff they need. Noone goes hungry, everyone has a clean bed with sheets, a toothbrush and they all get two hot meals a day. Still, they will soon need to replace the batteries from the solar panels that provide them with electricity or they will be left in the dark - this is of major concern to Roberto. The kids need more school books to write in, their shoes aren´t really adequate (especially for some of the heavy building work they get involved in) and it would be great if they could build at least 2 more study rooms.
We´ve been incredibly moved by the Colonia. The kids are all fighters who cope with challenging situations, nose bleeds, mud on their faces or dry bread and just get on with it. In 2 weeks we continue travelling, which means there is little time left to build the solar panel and finish the magazine. Manos a la obra... "

Thank you to Stephanie and Roberto for all their hard work and enthusiasm during their time at the project, they have made a big difference in a relatively short time, for which we are all grateful.

Monthly update from Kiko and Carmen

Monthly update from Kiko and Carmen – November 2008
This is an edited version of Kiko and Carmen’s monthly newsletter which we will be putting on the website blog regularly to keep you all informed; I have tried to translate it as clearly as I can while keeping as much of Kiko’s original style as possible.


“Hello friends. This month Wendell and Carlye visited us which was very enjoyable, we were very pleased to be able to show all the progress since they left, and to feel that Wendell and Carlye belong to the Colonia family.


The holidays are already approaching and we are planning and organizing the possible activities. On December 10, classes finish in the majority of schools and colleges and on 12th December, Maribel is graduating. This means that we will be doing the annual camping trip from the 14th to the 21st December, taking about 50 children , although we are lacking sleeping quarters for some.


We also have a new initiative to allow the children to see the sea; Bolivian children do not have the privilege to bathe in and to know the immensity of the ocean, they are only familiar with it through the television. The nearest country bordering the ocean is Chile, the city would be Arica. We will travel there by bike and plan to do this over five or six years, each year taking 10 or 11 children.
This year we expect to be pleasantly surprised by end of year school results, the members of Colonia are studying harder than in other years, each time there is greater responsibility and focus on studying. The new system of responsibilities within Colonia is working very well, it enables the children to learn more about Bolivian reality.


This month we had some bad luck that the rearview mirrors of the taxi were stolen; we left it parked as usual by the school where Darío has classes. We went to find these rearview mirrors to "Chinatown" where all stolen objects end up. In this neighbourhood you can find anything, since all is stolen. The police do not say anything since all this is organized in this neighbourhood. We found the mirrors but each one cost me 180 Bolivians, so 360 Bolivians in total. This made me quite angry; it is no-one’s fault but I am annoyed that this money comes out of our monthly expenses.


Edgar, a resident of Colonia had an accident playing football last month, and injured his forehead, Carmen had to transport him to the hospital to have stitches. We all had quite a fright since his face was covered with blood but all was well.
Cristofer is a boy who has been at Colonia for 7 months, he is a year and seven months of age and needs an operation to correct his legs, up to now we have been helping him with correct nutrition nappies, physiotherapy, consultations to the traumatologist, medicines, etc. Cristofer needs 2000 Bolivians for this operation before it can go ahead. The operacion will cost 1500 Bolivianos and some pre-op analysis needs to be done first. This operation itself will take place in the city of La Paz. . For this he needs to travel by bus and and to cover some expenses while there, which makes up the 2000 Bolivians. Cristofer would travel with his mother; she helps in Colonia with everything that is needed.


The new wooden Cabana is already finished, and we are using this with the radio and the television, it is a project to discover future vocations. Now it is only lacking some equipment, which we are working towards.


The volunteers up to now have been of a huge help and we are trying to integrate them more, for example Paola takes charge of transporting the children to the Dentist you gave them Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Lena is responsible for a cabana. Alison is with the small children and also with the older ones helping with the studying. Lena and Paola will be coming with us on the camping trip.


Dear friends, thanks for your support and patience, thanks to this these children have a decent life now and a better future. With affection Kiko and Carmen."

Calendars sold out!

The Charity Bolivia Calendar 2009 was a big success and has sold out – thank you to all those who bought a calendar and donated money. In the end we raised over £400 this year – this money went towards the bike trip which Kiko and Carmen have started to do each year. The purpose of this trip is to enable the children to see the sea – as Bolivia is landlocked they have never been able to experience the sea and the plan is to take about 10 children each year to the coast in Chile, travelling by bus and by bike. Details of the trip taken will be posted on this blog – watch this space.

Fundraising at Oxford Community School

Oxford Community School’s Year 8 held a charity fair again in July. Students had been learning about Colonia Ecologica as part of their citizenship lessons earlier in the term. Each class then had to come up with their own ideas for fundraising stalls to be stationed in the atrium on the day. On the day itself we had makeover stalls, face painting, decorate your own cake, guess the name of the teddy, lucky dips, cake stalls and many more. There was also a raffle with prizes kindly donated by OCS staff. The day was a great success, with stalls running from 10am until 1pm, and students were really enterprising in their ideas, teamwork and hard work on the day. In total, we raised £248.30 which was fabulous. The money will go towards an extra study hut for the children of Colonia Ecologica. Many thanks to all the students who took part and to the staff, particularly the Year 8 team and all those who supported us.

Bolivian newspaper article

Leaving Colonia - Sarah Hodgson

I will be very sad to leave Colonia Ecologica next month but intend to stay in contact with everyone and return and visit one day. I would highly recommend working with Colonia to anyone considering volunteering in Bolivia for 6 - 12 months. It has been an extremely fun and fulfilling experience for me.


My first impressions arriving at Colonia have proved, as is not always the case, to be absolutely right. I found it to be a very happy community of people where children who have previously been denied their childhood are allowed to revel in it. Under the direction of Kiko and Carmen the children at Colonia are guided through their education and encouraged to explore all their potential. Within hours I felt a part of Colonia and everyday since have looked forward to arriving there and being greeted by 90 beaming children. Seeing all these familiar faces each day and learning from Kiko and Carmen so much about childcare has made my time in Bolivia unforgettable and priceless.


Twice weekly I teach Beginners English and have also been working with a group of fifteen children helping them to complete their homework. The latter often involves a lot of energy, persuasion and a rollercoaster of emotions, but always results in the homework being completed! I have seen some real development in each child even in such a short space of time. A great example of all that Colonia is achieving, with the support of Charity Bolivia, can be seen in a girl in my group, eight-year-old Lisbeth, who when I arrived was unable to read or write. She was being given homework that involved copying pages of words and yet she was unable to read the letters of the alphabet. Now, Lisbeth can read and write all 26 letters and is moving onto copying words and using punctuation. Her reading still remains behind but what strikes me as most important is how her attitude to study has changed. Where previously she would frequently cry during study time, ashamed of the work she was producing, and would ask “¿Está mal? – Is this bad?”, she now happily attends study, never cries and even asks ¿Está bien? – Is this good?”. She is now more confident, happy and enjoying her education whilst before she felt isolated and had very little self esteem.


Without Colonia´s support it is doubtful that Lisbeth could have made this kind of progress. With many of the children at Colonia coming from large families where either parent, or the single parent in many cases, have to work very long hours there simply is no time for them to provide educational support to their children.


Another example of the real difference Colonia is making can be seen in a brother and a sister, Limbert & Danitza, who arrived 2 months ago. On arrival they were withdrawn, shy and reluctant to do any work. They would refuse to enter the cabaña with the other children and would pretend they had no homework. Now, in a short space of time, they are more outgoing and are willing, at times demanding to do their work. The agreement with the children is that they must attend school and do any homework in order to continue attending Colonia. This incentive, to become part of the wonderful environment that is Colonia, has been enough to change Limbert and Danitza´s attitudes towards the education they receive. They are now appreciative of all that Carmen and Kiko offer, as well as the family atmosphere that pervades Colonia and are happy to work in order to enjoy the privilege of attending the centre.


During the 9 months Colonia has also been growing at an incredible rate. I have witnessed the opening of 2 new classroom areas, the building of the reading area, perimeter wall, the installation of the new toilets and showers and now the building of the kitchen and dining area. It is really exciting to see it grow and to see the children working for this growth. During one month, after lunch each day we all set about rolling the enormous tree trunks that had had to be cleared for the building of the wall around the centre. In some cases the trees were so big it required 15 people to roll them along. Each of these tree trunks had to have their bark stripped to allow the local school to use the wood for the building of their playground. With all this furious activity not once did a person have to ask for assistance as the willingness to help and the responsibility felt towards Colonia is inherent in the children. Even the children as young as four were happily involved stripping the bark, picking up sticks. This is one example that demonstrates the reciprocal relationship existing between the children and the centre and this is what I believe lies at the heart of Colonia´s success.


Sarah Hodgson

Plans for the future

The priorities that Kiko and Carmen have identified for future fundraising are as follows;
• Three more cabañas and a library above the existing one for the secondary school students. More and more children are attending Colonia and there needs to be more space for them to study and do their homework.
• Toilet block for the externos (children who don’t live there). Kiko has designed a toilet block to go by the entrance in the shape of a huge caterpillar; this would be one of the first things seen when coming into Colonia.
• The current metal shack to be replaced by a garage for the trufi, and some more rooms to be built above it to accommodate more children
• Caring for more children – although there are 27 children actually living there, there are many more who need help; for example there were often 40 children there for lunch during our visit in August. Many children can’t eat at home as their parents are away working during the day. Obviously if children are hungry when they arrive, then they can’t concentrate on doing their schoolwork.
• Money to pay staff to work at Colonia – they have two staff who were previously volunteers there and are now paid a nominal wage through funding from Mark and Stefanie in Switzerland. They would like to be able to pay more permanent staff to help out there.