Reflections from Stephanie and Roberto, two volunteers
Here is a summary from Stephanie and Roberto who spent some time earlier this year volunteering at Colonia. They had a huge impact on Colonia in the time they were there and their contributions were hugely appreciated by Kiko, Carmen and all the children.
Summary of our month in Colonia Ecologica, February 2009
As part of our 4-month trip across South America, my husband Roberto and I decided to spend time volunteering in Bolivia. We are both Spanish speakers (Roberto is Chilean, I am half Argentinean) and we wanted to discover Bolivia, a neighbouring country, from a social point of view as opposed to purely as tourists passing through. Our month at the Colonia Ecologica exceeded all our expectations in terms of what we were able to achieve in such a short time and what we learned from the children. As a civil engineer, Roberto was able to apply his technical construction skills in a myriad of different activities. He built a thermal solar panel from scratch (to heat water through the sun’s rays) with a group of 8 boys AND girls, using recycled and new materials and a lot of inventiveness. It was a race against the clock but, on our penultimate day, the shower was turned on and hot water came pouring down! The joy on everyone’s faces was uplifting and very moving. The thermal solar panel will be used by the children to wash before and after swimming in the pool. Kiko’s plan is also to encourage the 8 boys and girls to present a smaller version of the panel at an annual school science competition. If they manage this, there is no doubt they will win! Roberto was also busy repairing leaky roofs, designing a better drainage system & looking into better chlorine systems for the pool, among other stuff. I taught English every afternoon to two separate groups: the advanced children with whom I designed a magazine entirely written by them (in English!), and the beginners with whom I sang English songs, played bingo and generally tried to increase their understand of basic vocabulary and expressions. One month isn’t long enough at all unfortunately, but there are many other English-speaking volunteers at the Colonia who will continue these lessons.
One of the most important activities we were involved in was the implementation of a new water purification system through the sun’s rays. When we first heard of the simplicity of this method, we were astounded to find that this wasn’t more widely applied in all sunny, developing countries. SODIS stands for Solar Disinfection. It works by filling transparent, 2L plastic bottles with clear water (from a tap, a river or a well) and letting the bottles out in the sunshine for 6 hours (ideally from 9am to 3pm) on a roof or steady ledge. The combination of heat and UV rays not only warms the water but also kills all bacteria and pathogens. Many PhD papers have been written about this. Please see www.sodis.ch for more info. We worked with SODIS Cochabamba to implement this system in order to provide the children with safer drinking water than what they currently receive from the grid (which doctors warn against). There is now a dedicated SODIS corner and it seems the children in charge of implementing it have done a super job!
The Colonia is extremely well maintained. They have very good home, sanitary & study installations, with a proper bed & wardrobe for every one of the 34 children who live in the house permanently. They may not have hot running water for everyone’s showers but Kiko and Carmen both believe that cold showers are good for the spirit! They receive hot meals every day and a very affectionate, loving, collaborative family environment in which to grow up. It’s a happy place and, while nothing beats having a Mum and Dad to take care of you, Kiko and Carmen dedicate their entire days (and some nights) to making sure everyone is cared for, studies hard, is well nourished, makes friends and receives adult advice on everything ranging from dental hygiene to sexual education. It’s a wonderful place to grow up and many of the older children are aware of and thankful for everything Kiko and Carmen have sacrificed to make the Colonia what it is. We just hope the Colonia continues to offer support to these and many other Bolivian children who deserve nothing less.
Stephanie Dazin
May 2009
Summary of our month in Colonia Ecologica, February 2009
As part of our 4-month trip across South America, my husband Roberto and I decided to spend time volunteering in Bolivia. We are both Spanish speakers (Roberto is Chilean, I am half Argentinean) and we wanted to discover Bolivia, a neighbouring country, from a social point of view as opposed to purely as tourists passing through. Our month at the Colonia Ecologica exceeded all our expectations in terms of what we were able to achieve in such a short time and what we learned from the children. As a civil engineer, Roberto was able to apply his technical construction skills in a myriad of different activities. He built a thermal solar panel from scratch (to heat water through the sun’s rays) with a group of 8 boys AND girls, using recycled and new materials and a lot of inventiveness. It was a race against the clock but, on our penultimate day, the shower was turned on and hot water came pouring down! The joy on everyone’s faces was uplifting and very moving. The thermal solar panel will be used by the children to wash before and after swimming in the pool. Kiko’s plan is also to encourage the 8 boys and girls to present a smaller version of the panel at an annual school science competition. If they manage this, there is no doubt they will win! Roberto was also busy repairing leaky roofs, designing a better drainage system & looking into better chlorine systems for the pool, among other stuff. I taught English every afternoon to two separate groups: the advanced children with whom I designed a magazine entirely written by them (in English!), and the beginners with whom I sang English songs, played bingo and generally tried to increase their understand of basic vocabulary and expressions. One month isn’t long enough at all unfortunately, but there are many other English-speaking volunteers at the Colonia who will continue these lessons.
One of the most important activities we were involved in was the implementation of a new water purification system through the sun’s rays. When we first heard of the simplicity of this method, we were astounded to find that this wasn’t more widely applied in all sunny, developing countries. SODIS stands for Solar Disinfection. It works by filling transparent, 2L plastic bottles with clear water (from a tap, a river or a well) and letting the bottles out in the sunshine for 6 hours (ideally from 9am to 3pm) on a roof or steady ledge. The combination of heat and UV rays not only warms the water but also kills all bacteria and pathogens. Many PhD papers have been written about this. Please see www.sodis.ch for more info. We worked with SODIS Cochabamba to implement this system in order to provide the children with safer drinking water than what they currently receive from the grid (which doctors warn against). There is now a dedicated SODIS corner and it seems the children in charge of implementing it have done a super job!
The Colonia is extremely well maintained. They have very good home, sanitary & study installations, with a proper bed & wardrobe for every one of the 34 children who live in the house permanently. They may not have hot running water for everyone’s showers but Kiko and Carmen both believe that cold showers are good for the spirit! They receive hot meals every day and a very affectionate, loving, collaborative family environment in which to grow up. It’s a happy place and, while nothing beats having a Mum and Dad to take care of you, Kiko and Carmen dedicate their entire days (and some nights) to making sure everyone is cared for, studies hard, is well nourished, makes friends and receives adult advice on everything ranging from dental hygiene to sexual education. It’s a wonderful place to grow up and many of the older children are aware of and thankful for everything Kiko and Carmen have sacrificed to make the Colonia what it is. We just hope the Colonia continues to offer support to these and many other Bolivian children who deserve nothing less.
Stephanie Dazin
May 2009
posted by Charity Bolivia at 12:01 PM
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