Lots going on

Things have been so busy this month that I haven't had time to post. So here it goes: a months worth of news.

Early in the month I became a Godfather (again), the son of a friend who lives across the valley in San Juan de la Miel. Here is a guest pinning money to the child's shirt, a tradition to raise money for the child's future.




I was in Michigan and Minnesota for a few days in early May. I spent some time with family. Here is my sister Paula with her horse River.




May 7th was the Fiesta del Ayni, a fund raiser for the College, and a way to get in touch with the huge base of generous people that support us. Here I am with Sister Damon.




And here is Ann Leahy, part of the team that helped Sister Damon start the College back in 1993. Here she stands before a model of the campus, with two cars ready to race up the hill, powered by supporter's donations. One car was Sister Damon, looking for funds for the bootcamp that supports students doing their graduation research projects; the other was Dick Leahy, looking for funds for the student-run food program. The first one to the top of the hill asked our director Father Freddy to call Carmen Pampa Fund director Sue Wheeler to ask for matching funds. (The terrible part about it is that we really just do have one phone, on the upper campus. Ironically, we do have Internet on both campuses.)




My sister Paula came to the event, and to spend a few days with me in Minnesota -- we had a great time walking around the city and spending time with former volunteer Becky. Here is Paula with Becky at the Guthrie Theater.




And we also met up with another former volunteer, Matt.




I also got to see other former volunteers Beth and Ana (with me at a Denny's), and Christine, out for Chinese food in St. Paul.






On May 11th I flew to Chicago and met up with 7 visiting scholars from South Dakota State University. We spent 10 days teaching workshops and working on collaboration plans. Here is the crew on the first day.




Here Agronomy Director José Luis Beltrán gives a talk about quantitative measurements in ecological systems.




We had lunch with different groups of students and faculty every day.




Dr. Brent Turnipseed talked about seed evaluation techniques.




Dr. Paul Johnson talked about insect collecting and diversity.




Dr. K.C. Jensen talked about bird identification and ecology.




On one of our last days, we took an excursion into the Cotapata National Park. Our minibus driver for the week, Nicolás, took us on a hike up the Río Elena to the secret Cock-of-the-Rock feeding grounds.




...and we saw two females and a male, with a bright red crest -- amazing.




Then went to the Nayriri Butterfly House in a small community nearby, Chairo. Here is the technician Guillermina Cos and a consultant, Martín Apaza, along with Paul Johnson.




After the South Dakota folks left, we had a few research project defenses -- but it is getting late, so I will write about that sometime soon. Needless to say, it was a real full month -- and it isn't even over!

Two defenses and some culture

Yesterday we graduated two more young people, a nurse and a vet. In the morning was Graciela Villalobos, who did her research project about knowledge of tuberculosis among high school students. Graciela is Old School: She started at the College when Sister Basilia (now Director of the Hospital in Coroico) was still the Director of Nursing.


Photo: Graciela signs her graduation papers after the defense as Dr. Cinzia Quezada looks on.

Graciela's two daughters were there, and her mother and father. After Graciela's defense, her father spoke of their hopes for their daughter, and how proud they were of her. Her daughters quietly gave their mother a hug as the tears shone in her eyes.


Photo: Graciela with her parents and daughters.

In the afternoon, a vet student defended his research project about semen quality in the College's boars. Herland Hernández is a special student for a few reasons: He was chosen in 2004 to participate in a Young Indigenous Leaders workshop in the United States, and in 2005 he served as student body president. Congratulations to both Herland and Graciela.


Photo: Herland examining boar semen in the laboratory.


...and back to the anniversary of ecotourism!

Yesterday morning there was a breakfast of sandwiches and tea on the terrace of the new building (well, if by "terrace" you mean "cement slab on top of new building without any kind of wall or barrier." It's a little scary.). Here are volunteers Sam and Andy in line for their anniversary grub.



And there was a culture night yesterday night, with dancing, theater sketches, lip syncing, and music by groups of students from all departments. It was quite a night! (Below two Eco-t students dance Pastorcita.)

Happy Anniversary, Ecotourism!

Earth Day is also the day that the Ecotourism department celebrates its anniversary. It started with a "greet the day" dawn salute at 4:30 Wednesday morning (yes, morning). Cheering, a brass band, dancing. Right outside my window. Though I was very happy for them, I didn't get out of bed.

Today was the mass, with Father Eulogio Mamani. They students put out candles and a globe in front of the altar.



The students presented the water and wine to the altar, followed by bread, sandals, a plant and a copy of the College's mission, each symbolic of how the students imagine they can improve the lives of their people through their studies.



Then the new Ecotourism classrooms were blessed by Father Eulogio.



After the blessing, we all sat down to an incredible lunch, prepared by the third semester students as part of the gastronomy class.



Tomorrow is a day full of games and the cultural night, and Saturday a dance. Congratulations to them all.

A little busy

I am teaching one class now, How to Write a Senior Project Proposal, with last term students from the vet, agronomy and nursing departments. And it is a lot of fun, and a lot of work.

Teaching the class keeps me in contact with students in a special way, allowing me to see how they have developed technically over their time here. And they do indeed change: the poor quality of education in the countryside means that most students come to the College with problems thinking critically and organizing their thoughts on paper. (The plus is that they have incredible spacial and manual skills, and an excellent work ethic -- well, most of them.)

So last week my students all turned in their proposals -- just when the Carmen Pampa Fund people came! I'm afraid I was not much of a host to them, squirreled away with the dreams of these 18 young people.


Photo: (top L to R) Franklin Durán, Nilo Arteaga, Mauricio Rodríguez, David Mamani, Beatriz Mamani, Juan Carlos Calla, Grover Maldonado, Ricardo Ramos, Willy Condori, Luana Fresco, Max Ramirez, Harold Rivera, Steven Jemio; (bottom L to R) Shidney Zambrana, Viviana España, Shaney Telleria, Sandra Pérez, Efraín Paxi.

It is with this one last, long step that they get their degrees and shoot out into the world, all grown up!

Carmen Pampa Fund Visit

Sue Wheeler, Carmen Pampa Fund Exec. Director, and Ann Leahy, head of the CPF Board of Directors, were here this week to do some "strategic thinking" with us in Carmen Pampa. Three days of meetings with key people at the College, Sister Maureen of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, and invited member Jorge Crespo, ex-embassador for Bolivia in the U.S.


Photo: Juan Velasco, Jorge Crespo, Freddy del Villar, Sue Wheeler, Ann Leahy, Maureen Coyle, Manuela Urbina, Sarah Mechtenberg, Andrés Pardo, Suzanne Dulles and Jean Morrissey.

And we had some visitors, too: Juan Velasco and Suzanne Dulles from conBolivia, Roger Valencia from Peru, Tara Nolan, and Nadine Leahy. It's impossible to describe what all of these people contribute, from the smiles to the chocolate they brought, from the perspective they give us to their support for students.


Photo: Nadine and Ann Leahy.

Thanks for their support, and the support that all of you give to make this place real.


Photo: Tara Nolan, Juan Velasco, Roger Valencia, Andrés Pardo, Fernando Salazar, Sarah Mechtenberg, Jean Morrissey, Juan Vargas.

Saturday night mass

Father Alejandro did a powerful mass for Easter -- here we light candles to enter into the dark church.

Washing of the feet

Here Father Freddy washes the feet of Ernesto Mamani, a nursing student at the College, as part of the Holy Week activities.

Heberto

This week, another graduate! Heberto Yañez looked at planting techniques for the Andean root racacha (Arracacia xanthorriza), and confirmed that growing racacha in small nursery beds and later transplanting it produces a better crop.

Heberto worked closely with farmers from the nearby community of San Juan de la Miel, working as a true extensionist. Here are the farmers planting the nursery with Heberto.



He also met with the farmers to discuss how the experiment was progressing, and shared his results with the farmers at the end of the experiment so that they could take advantage of the results.



And here are some roots ready to cook and eat.

(Photos courtesy of Heberto.)

We ate racacha last night! It's like a cross between a parsnip and a carrot. And it is a crop that diversifies the farms of the region, helping stabilize the income of our local farmers due to fluxuating market prices for crops.

Meetings

There is a saying that you could spend all day, every day in meetings at work. Well, we don't have time for that many meetings -- we're too busy being teacher, parent and friend to the students in our care.

But we do have meetings. Yesterday, we had a meeting of the Consejo Superior, made up of the directors of all of the majors, the religious department, the research institute, the development man, human resources, yours truly and our Director Father Freddy. The topics ranged from academics to fund-raising, day-to-day communication to long-range planning.

Father Freddy is big about teamwork. "If we cannot communicate and work as a team, none of us are effective," he said.

We have come a long way with Father Freddy. Priests are not trained to be university administrators at seminary. And Sister Damon's shoes were hard to fill. But Father Freddy has shown that we can all work and grow together, and his vision for the College, which has evolved as we have grown to over 700 students this year, has helped us meet the challenges that come with growth and change.

Juan Carlos Paco

Yesterday, a "long lost" student graduated, Juan Carlos Paco. He started at the College in 1999, ten years ago. Since then, his brother Gabriel started and finished his studies, and another brother Walter is currently in the Education department.

Juan Carlos has been working with an NGO to help farmers on the Altiplano improve their farming practices -- in fact, his research was about how to improve quinoa production, an Andean seed related to lambsquarter, spinach and beets (it's genus name, Chenopodium, means goosefoot because of the shape of the leaves).

Juan Carlos expects to continue to work with farmers on the Altiplano.


Photo: Juan Carlos signs the official graduation document.

First Education Graduate

Today was a first for the College: Paola Surco was our first graduate in the Education Department.

"Paola, I know that you have struggled to come this far," said Education Department Director Andrés Pardo. "It is never easy to break a new path. But you have cleared the way for many more future professionals, and we all thank you for that."


Photo: Education Department Director Andrés Pardo talks about this historic moment at the College.

Paola's research was about how parents and teachers teach elementary school students about gender, and questions about sexuality. She found that young children identify their parents as the source of information about questions like, "Where do babies come from?" but that parents perceived the schools are being the primary sources of this information.

It was an emotional moment for all as she spoke of the love and support she felt at the College, noting that Sister Damon was her inspiration. "I cannot believe that I got to know such an incredible woman," she said through tears.

We are all very proud of Paola, and know that she will do good things, carrying forward the mission of the College. "You have come far," said Father Freddy. "Recoginze that. And then go further. Go out into the world and create that change that we all know is possible."


Photo: Paola stands with her mother and father, copy of her research in hand.

Presentation at Ecology Conference

Thursday, the College presented a talk at an ecology conference. Miguel Manrique, the student coordinator of our insect diversity project, presented research we are doing with collaborators from Brigham Young University. Miguel did a short talk about the diversity of insect families in our cloud forest Uchumachi.

The conference was in honor of the 30th anniversary of the State University's Instituto de Ecología.

Event in La Paz

Last night, the College invited people from the government and non-governmental agencies to an event held at Catholic University of Bolivia in La Paz. People from different government ministries and some national NGOs came for a few words from our people, music and food. It was a nice time, and our name is getting out there like never before.

Here is Carlos, a Bolivian television personality (and former professor at the College) who MCed the event.



One of the musical surprises was the Saya, a traditional dance done in Afro-bolivian communities, done here by some students from the College.

Author in our midst

When I came to the College in 1999, Dr. David Coria was the Director of the Vet and Animal Science Department. He was like a father to all the students there, caring deeply for each of the young people in his department. He left in 2002 to become a founding professor at the Universidad Pública y Autónoma de El Alto. In 2006 he died of gastrointestinal complications, leaving behind a wife and son, and many brothers and sister.

One brother, Alfredo, followed in David's footsteps, becoming a veterinarian, and later a professor at the College. Before David's death, he and Alfredo were working on a textbook about animal anatomy. Alfredo finished the book and published it, and presented it today in a small ceremony with all of our Vet and Animal Science students.

"My brother was an advocate of students swimming in information," said Alfredo. "I hope that this book will help you become the professionals that you dream of becoming."


Photo: Vet Director Martín Morales and Author Dr. Alfredo Coria with a copy of his newly published book Bases de Anatomía en Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Vol. 1.

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.
_________________

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."