The college was built, brick by brick, with the help of members of the communities nearby. One of these communities is Chovacollo, nestled in the folds of the hill across our valley. One man in particular, Luis Choque, used to regale me with stories about how the whole community, machetes in hand, would cross the valley and make a fiesta of building a better future for their children. Their sweat is literally in the mortar of the college, their contribution to the promise of that better future.
One of Chovacollo's children, Pedro Mamani, defended his research project this Thursday, making good on that promise. He examined whether increasing the temperature of the hog barn by covering some of its windows with burlap would increase weight gain, and it did.
Our newest graduate ran the school's family hog production project, helping local families raise hogs to sell at a better price to the college meat processing plant. I'm not sure what is in store for Pedro now, but I do know that he has a lot to live up to. And I expect him to shine.
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