New School Year Begins

Bolivia is currently experiencing massive amounts of rain causing an emergency on a national scale as crops are ruined and people are stranded due to bridges collapsing and roads washing away. Here in Cochabamba the usually brown hills surrounding Cochabamba are now bright green. All types of nature (trees, shrubs, and bushes) are exploding in green and soaking up the rain like so many sponges. Although it is technically Fall here, it has the appearance of a beautiful lush Spring. Along with the new growth around the country, Monday, February 6th, saw the start of the new school year for Bolivian public schools. Two months of a tranquilo summer vacation melted away into nervous and excited energy as the new school year approached and began.


The kids of Colonia Ecologica also started the new year with many new faces. Each day after school Kiko makes the rounds and picks up the kids and brings them back to Colonia. Chores begin around 3 pm with every kid assigned a job. This usually is sweeping the walk ways and study rooms, chopping vegetables for soup, emptying the flooded underground cabana, window cleaning, and road construction (made from large stones). At 4 pm the work ends and studying begins. Each cabana has an older kid, volunteer, or adult to assist with the younger kids. Homework and reading are a main focus of Colonia . Kiko gave a stern speech on the first day of the school year to set the tone and focus for those kids that are new and to remind those kids that are veterans of the program that reading and grades are two of the most important aspects of Colonia. That summer was over and it was time to get serious and focused. After 5 pm, once the homework and reading are done of course, the kids have time to break out board games or play soccer.


This year there are 22 people living at Colonia (23 until Favio leaves) with a total of 60 (mas o menos) in the afternoon. Favio, the son of Kiko and Carmen, leaves on the 4th of March for a year long volunteer stint in the Beni department wher he will constuct roads out of stones. The volunteer work replaces the mandatory military service required in Bolivia.


Four of the older kids this year will be working to complete 2 school years in one. For some of these kids, like Oscar for example, the task will be difficult as studying cuts into his much loved soccer time. But they are all dedicated to doing well and succeeding.


Recently the new library has started going up. The construction began about the same time school did and there are currently 4 concrete posts up ready to support the two story structure.


So a new year begins for Colonia. And much like the surrounding landscape it buds and blooms in the most remarkable ways. To see some more pics from this year click here.

A new trufi?

This is just to inform all of you what the next priority is for the money that Charity Bolivia raises for Colonia Ecologica. We are trying to collect enough money to buy a trufi - which is Bolivian for a minibus, as some of you may already know.


Kiko and Carmen currently have a dilapidated old taxi which they use to transport the children to and from school etc. Although public transport is cheap in Cochabamba by many standards, the cost of the school bus is still too expensive for most families in the area. Therefore Kiko helps out by driving as many children as they can fit into the taxi - the current record is about 19 of them!


The car is quite old and had to go in for major repairs recently - during that month, they had to spend $50 on transport for all the children. If we manage to raise enough money to buy them a second-hand trufi, this would not only save them a lot of time and money, it would enable them to transport more children to school.


They would also be able to easily arrange more outings for the children without having to arrange and pay for private transport, which would be an obvious bonus.


Thanks for your help and support.