Juan Quispe

Former student body president Juan Quispe presented his graduation project today, about using the amino acid lysine as a supplement to chicken feed, and discovered that it increased production and profitability. In his speech at the end of his defense, he said through tears, "I am grateful for the opportunity to have studied, and I hope that the College can continue to help the most needy students. This will always be my home."

Here is Juan with some of the chickens from his study.

Goats

Goats are great sources of meat and milk, and have adapted well to the climate in the Yungas where we live. Since they were introduced in the past few years, however, we were not sure about what diseases and disorders might appear in our herd.


Photo: Current goat herd in Coroico Viejo.

Anahí Farfán became our newest graduate last Friday with the presentation of her project about the ranges of organic and inorganic levels of common substances in goat serum. Her research gives vets in this area (and our students) a reference for blood tests on goats: levels above or below these ranges are indicators of disorders.


Photo: (L to R) Vet professor Teddy Ibañez, Vet Director Martín Morales, new graduate Anahí Farfán, project advisor Marcelina Condori and Vice Director Hugh Smeltekop.


(Photos from Jessie)

Adventure Tourism

Over the past two months, the College and its NGO partner Proyecto Actividad Rural Competitiva Bolivia put together a training for High Adventure Guides for the Municipality of Coroico. The trainer, a Spaniard named Dídac Cabanillas, taught about 20 tourism students and members of nearby communities about rock climbing and zip-lining, as well as knot tying, map reading, rescue and administration.

Thursday was the end of the course, with speeches by our Director Father Freddy, a local prefect, the Vice Minister of Coca, a representative of USAID, and the founder of Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking, Alistair Matthew. This the man who started the "bike down the world's most dangerous road" about 10 years ago. He said that now over 20,000 people bike the road per year. And we need to have more for them to do once they get to Coroico, at the end of the road.


Photo: Ecotourism Director José Luis Pinto makes opening remarks at the event, with Gravity's Alstair Matthew and ARCo's Preston Pattie.

After the speeches and the presentation of certificates, the group moved to a ravine next to the basketball court where a rope, tied to trees on either side, bridged the gap. The students zipped back and forth on the line, then down to the river and back. Then it was the audience's turn: everyone had the opportunity to jump off the 200 foot cliff and zip across the ravine!

It was a riot of fun. Here is a before the jump picture:



...and here is the after picture. Way cool.

Producing our our feed II

Back in August, volunteer Catherine Moriarty wrote about student Rolando Condori and his graduation project that received support from the NGO conBolivia. Our two new volunteers, Jessie and Kirsten, wrote an update.
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Rolando Condori is a veterinary science student here at Unidad Academica Campesina- Carmen Pampa. His senior research project is called "The Implementation of a Processing Plant for Balanced Feed for Chickens and Pigs." To gather information on the chicken section of his thesis, he has collaborated with another student who is doing his project on a chicken farm for the university. Together they have interviewed farmers and farming cooperatives and have reviewed government data. Through this he has finished his research on chickens. He is still lacking information on pigs after some unsuccessful attempts at interviewing area farmers. He is planning to review the Municipal Development Plan of Coroico, the municipality in the area of influence of the project, but there is less recorded data on pigs in this area. He said he has had various setbacks with the project but he is optimistic about the outcome. He hopes to have it completed by the beginning of June.

The View

Passing the stairs that lead to the Pre-University classroom, I saw these four new students looking out onto the hustle and bustle below.

A student returns

Today I arrived on the upper campus after my class, and there waiting for me was Gerónimo Huanca, a student who finished his classes in 2007 who then promptly disappeared.

"Where have you been!" I shouted, smiling.

"Tuve algunos percances," was his answer -- I had a few problems.


Photo: Gerónimo Huanca, today at the College.

Gerónimo's mother died when he was very young, and he never knew his father. An older, childless couple in a small community a few hours from Carmen Pampa took him in and raised him as their own.

Last year, both of his adoptive parents took ill, his father probably with lung cancer ("He smoked a lot," he said), and his mother with tuberculosis. He took over the family's coca and fruit tree fields to support his parents and his wife with their 6-year-old son. His father died in December.

"How is your mother now?" I asked. She is still sick, even after the eight months of pills from the government TB program, he says, so he is taking her to the hospital next week again. But she insists, as does he wife, that Gerónimo return to school to finish his research project and graduate.

This is what is so incredible to me. Families value education so much, make so many sacrifices to get that degree, have so much hope for what it represents: a better future. He will finish, though he had to delay his dream for a while. He has what it takes. He will succeed.

I feel so fortunate to be a part of that. I hope that you do, too.

New Volunteers

This week our volunteer house grew by two, Jessie and Kirsten, two amazing young Minnesotans who will be with us for a few months. Though you will hear about them here somewhat, also see Jessie's blog, Jessie in Bolivia.

¡Bienvenidas!


Kirsten and Jessie on Lake Titicaca before coming to Carmen Pampa (photo by Jessie)

Misson of the College by Wordle

We have finished the first week of classes, and the mission of the College is ringing in my ears as these faces, new and old, shine with the idealism that keeps me planted right here. A friend told me about Wordle, a applet that creates a jumble of text that "speaks" our mission uniquely.



Click on the image to see a large version.

Maria Chipana

María Chipana is from a small town in the Alto Beni, the tropical part of our dioceses. When she started at the College, she began dreaming of becoming an agent of change in Bolivia. She has been doing just that, working for the German development agency GTZ for two years now, helping with initiatives like biogas, methane generation from farm waste for small farmers.

But she hadn't finished her degree. She did her research in 2003, then left the university to raise her daughter and work as she wrote up her research.

When I came back to the College in 2006, her research had been on the back burner for three years. We scooped her up into the Thesis Bootcamp, and got her back on track. She spent many nights writing and re-writing, and she got her degree today, after defending her research project about the best amount and kind of organic fertilizer to use to maximize stevia production in the Yungas.

María's daughter Nicole is my Goddaughter, baptised in 2007. That makes María my comadre, a co-parent of her daughter, the spiritual parent of her child. So I am glad for two reasons today: for my comadre María for her success as a professional, and for her daughter, who now has an incredible model for her life.

¡Felicidades, María!

Recycling Redux

I have written about the Rotary Club of Des Moines A.M. before, and how they are helping us build a Recycling Center -- it is getting much closer! Here is the dream that Franciscan Mission Service missionary Alexandra Hoch and then student Gabriel Paco envisioned, and Rotary is helping us make real.

Here is the Center, still under construcion, seen from below. You can see the separation area in on the left, the composting stairs on the right, and the recyclable storage in back.

Registration

Students were here this weekend to register for classes -- and what a moment of joy it was for all of us, to see our students back from their homes with nuevas ganas to study.

Here the director of the Pre-University program, Sarah Álvarez, welcomes students as they line up to pay their first cuota of Bs. 140 (about $20) this semester. I think that is why not everyone looks so thrilled...


Here assistant to the nursing program Wilma Yujra helps a new student fill out paperwork.


We wish all the students, old and new, much success! Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

First Faculty Meeting of 2009

Friday was our first faculty meeting of the new year.


Photo: College Director Father Freddy talks to the College faculty in La Paz.

The meeting started with a discussion of the vision and mission of the College, then a rundown of professor rights and responsibilities -- basically, according to Father Freddy, You were hired as a professional in your area of expertise, and for your commitment to the development of your students as people as well as professionals.

We want to focus on three areas especially this year, he continued: ethics, research and grammar.

A survey last year showed that most professors incorporate ethical lessons in their classes, and all considered their personal behavior as one of the best ways to "teach" ethics. Through a grant this year with South Dakota State University, the College will continue to create ways to bring ethics training to the classroom.

This semester, professors will form groups to help students do small research projects in their classes, and these projects will be part of their semester grade. The very best projects will be published in a journal created by the College.

For one such project last semester, education students did a research project to identify the most common grammar problems at the College. The research showed that students need help throughout their studies to compensate for the poor instruction that rural students often receive. "Every professor is also a grammar teacher," Father Freddy reminded the group.

"We will all be faced with challenges," he continued. "Working with young people is not always easy, as they push limits and discover who they are. But our work to create a new Bolivia through education is a reality, and each of you will contribute, and create that brighter future we all imagine."