Avalanche!

I know what you are thinking -- a landslide on the unstable Andean cloud forest roads. But no: The UAC saw 5 students graduate in the past week -- and the prognostication shows chances of another graduate on Monday are great!

Lalo Chipana defended a research project about the incidence of rabies in La Paz early in the week. On Tuesday Nelva Guzman defended her project about coffee fermentation techniques, and Jorge Gallardo about another aspect of coffee production. Friday Isidro Mamani, a student who grew up in the community of Carmen Pampa, defended his project about the adaptation of soybeans to the region; and on the same day another student, Veymar Silva, successully defended his work about the varieties of banana and plantain in the area.

The defenses corresponded with the visit of Ann Leahy, Sue Wheeler and Joel Mugge from the Carmen Pampa Fund, and they where there when Nelva Guzman became yet another Carmen Pampa success story (photos to come). It was a beautiful moment, with smiles and tears shared by Nelva and her family, her project guidence committee, the head of her department, the director of the university, and our friends from the Carmen Pampa Fund who make this success possible.

And we can't say it enough: Thank you. To everyone who supports the college in all of the different ways. Thank you. Thank you so much.