Navidad

Christmas is an experience in Carmen Pampa. Old and young come out for the mass (below, Father Eulogio, preaching)...




...with children dancing to carols...




...then hot chocolate for all. The children get presents (thanks, Kimberly, for making that happen!), and there are food baskets for the older community members. It's great to have all the community people together, chatting and sharing.

Merry Christmas to all! May the hope of the season lift us up and bring is all great strength and love.

Last Day of Work

The students left last week, and it was "just us staffpeople" since then. Today was the College's end-of-year staff party, marking the last day of work until the new year. It started with a mass, followed by five-on-five soccer (men) and basketball (women), then a huge BBQ for all. A small gift-exchange and the traditional panetón hand-out rounded out the day.

The bishop, official President of the College, reminded everyone that working with young people is sometimes difficult, but so necessary, and with huge rewards, for us as individuals, and for society at large. Our graduates are a sign of that: I feel proud when I see an alumni of the College in La Paz and learn of his of her successes.


Photo: People chat as the grill team puts the finishing touches on the BBQ (grilled plantains!)

Pigs eat racacha

A native Andean root crop called racacha produces a corm, a fibrous lump at the base of the plant from which the carrot-like roots grow. This corm is discarded by farmers, but it shouldn't be: it can be peeled, grated, dried and fed to hogs, replacing some of the expensive corn-based feed that hog farmers use around here.

Student Irma Villegas demonstrated this with her graduation project: using up to 30% of racacha corms in the diet doesn't affect hog weight gain, but does reduce feed costs significantly. "Hog feed is about 80% of the cost of production," she says. "By using racacha corms that were once discarded, farmers can make more money."

After receiving her final grade, Irma's mother stood and spoke. "I am so proud of my daughter. I grew up thinking that women were supposed to stay at home. Now my girl is a professional -- her dream was one that I never even considered."


Photo: Irma stands with her mother, brother and daughter after her successful defense.

The majority of students at the College are women, and even in the male-dominated vet department, over a third of the students are women. One returning vet student, Betty Flores, told me earlier in the semester that once you are out there working, things are hard for women. "Men don't think you can do the job," she said. "You lose a lot of opportunities. But we can stick together, and the more of us there are, the easier it will be."

Well, Irma is out there now. And we know she will succeed, whatever it takes.

Chris DeLorenzo, We will miss you!

I knew a guy who met some guy... How many stories start like this, chance occurences that shape the future in unpredictable ways?

Andy Engel was traveling in Peru after volunteering as an English teacher at the College, and just happened to meet Michael Schroeder, a history professor at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania. They discovered that they were both natives of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and struck up a friendship of sorts.

Later that year, Chris DeLorenzo, history student at Lebanon Valley College, was telling his history professor that he was interested in teaching in South America, especially Bolivia. Dr. Schroeder just happened to know of a place that might be interested...

Serendipitious. That is what Chris calls it.

Chris was an exceptional volunteer, not because he was a responsible and organized English teacher, though this he was. What made Chris stand out was his incredible dedication to his students' development as people. He often shared meals with the students, spent time talking to and advising them, hiked for miles to visit them and their families*...


Photo: Chris receives a gift from his students, recognition of his dedication to them, in and out of the classroom.

One particularly memorable moment for him was a visit to San Pedro where his student Lidia Mamani lives. "The family just invited me in, and we made bread people for the Day of the Dead," he explained. "They took me in and I felt like part of their family at that moment."

Chris was an incredible part of our family here. The mission of the College is not just to impart technical skills to disadvantaged young women and men, but rather to build a sense of family, a space where the students can grow as people, where we can all grow in Christ's love and humanity. Chris's dedication to his students and their development reflected exactly this.


Photo: Chris is given a tau, the symbol of St. Francis, blessed by Fr. Freddy and witnessed by his students.

Chris plans to continue his studies, focusing on contemporary Bolivian political and social history, especially the fate of marginalized peoples. We know that he will stay involved in the College, supporting students with his knowledge and dedication to positive change through education.


Photo: Chris and Hugh prepare to dance the Morenada, a traditional Bolivian dance, for the College's anniversary activities in October.

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*Chris even cut up 40 whole chickens for a student BBQ -- chickens with their heads still attached! Now that is dedication.

United Nations

Yesterday was an incredible day: we had a visit from the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Bolivia, Ms. Yoriko Yasukawa. She came to see the College and offer support from the many organizations that function under the umbrella of the UN, including the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, UNICEF and many others.

Ms. Yasukawa offered to support the College with materials for our libraries, and send professionals from the different programs to speak at the College. She also agreed to help us contact other organizations that could support the College.

Thank you, United Nations!


Photo: Student body president Griselda Jaúregui showed Ms. Yasukawa around Campus Manning with her team of advisors and friend of the College Jorge Crespo (L to R: Griselda Jaúregui, David Mollinedo, Yoriko Yasukawa, Isabel Arauco, Lucio Severo and Jorge Crespo)

Alumni reunion

The College had an alumni reunion this Saturday in La Paz -- and it was incredible! About 30 students who work in and around La Paz came and shared food and stories, and we were blessed with the presence of Tara Nolan, the niece of our foundress Sister Damon.

There is an Aymara indian tradition of getting together to share food, called an apthapi, a Bolivia potluck. This sharing is saying, "We are the same, we are family."


Photo: Graduates of the College sit and share food at the Parque Central Urbano in the city of La Paz.

While we ate, each student spoke of his or her struggles, accomplishments and dreams. The alumni remembered the incredible opportunity to study, and how Sister Damon inspired each one. Sister Damon also sent her words of greetings on a DVD that her niece brought along, and encouraged them to give back to the College, through the scholarship program.

Some grads are working at NGOs that help farmers, one for the Ministry of Health, some at hospitals, and some have their own businesses, every one successful in a different way. "We all came from humble families, and life was hard. But Sister Damon has faith in each one of us, even when we didn't believe in ourselves," said one student to the group. "She knew we could succeed, and now here we are." There they were, a testament to the power of education.


Update (Dec. 13, 2010): We had another alumni reunion in Coroico a week later -- read about it here on Sarah's blog.

Harina de yuca

Today Jimmy Lobaton, a student from the agronomy program, defended his graduation project. It was a business plan to produce and commercialize cassava, a root crop that is the world's third largest source of calories.

"Presently there are no commercial cassava flour producers in Bolivia -- everything that you find in the supermarket is imported from Brazil," he commented.

Jimmy's project has a strong extension component: he will find farmers to produce cassava, train them in good production practices, and buy their harvest to transform into flour in a small production unit in the Alto of La Paz. This kind of initiative has many strengths: it improves the lives of farmers while generating value in the Bolivian economy, and provides job to Bolivians.

Since the approval of his project for graduation, he will be looking for a loan -- and launching himself into the world, leaving his university nest. ¡Buena suerte, Jimmy!


Photo: New graduate Jimmy Lobaton poses with his father after his successful defense.

Honey

Rubén Ulo has a honey business. He has been working in a settlement near the town of Caranavi for the last two years, training community members how to raise honeybees. The community members bottle their honey in his house, and convince businesses in Caranavi to sell it.

It was time to "grow" the business. "The potential for honey in Bolivia is tremendous," he explains. "But we were way below our potential."

Rubén faced another challenge: he had not completed a research project, a graduation requirement. Last year, however, the College approved another way to graduate: write a business plan. So Rubén decided to write a business expansion plan, and kill two birds with one stone.

Yesterday, Rubén defended his business plan. It included training more farmers, making bi-monthly visits to producers to control quality, and do a marketing campaign. In five years, he plans to market over three tons of honey, and also to produce and sell royal jelly.

During the defense of his plan yesterday, a professor asked, "What if the farmers you train split off and start their own businesses? You are training the competition." True to our mission, Rubén responded, "The supply is far below demand, so there is plenty of room in the market for more production right now. But our job as graduates of the College is to pass our knowledge along so that more and more people have options, and can live with dignity. I would glad to know that my work could help more people."

Congratulations, then, to our latest graduate, already contributing to the development of the country. His success is all of our success.


Photo: Rubén signs his graduation documents -- our newest graduate!