Magdalena Makes it Big!

My first day in Carmen Pampa was marked by a wonderful event. Magdalena Colque defended her thesis succesfully and received her degree in Veterinary Science from the UAC. Her family and friends travelled from afar to support her and were very proud of her achievements. We celebrated with a lovely almuerzo meal during which her mother, Basilia shared her pride in her daughter and Magda shared her excitement in her future spreading her knowledge with people in her pueblo and her future as a professional.

Paula Smeltekop on friendly hosts

These beautiful Bolivian women represent three generations living together in a small town. They seemed very happy with one another and confident in the world. I thought they were a good example of how living in an extended family supports each member. I was amazed when the youngest (7) took my hand and accompanied me all over town looking for bottled water. Since my Spanish is limited, she made sure that I was understood, especially when my answer was no. I cannot imagine an American seven year old behaving with such self assurance.

Guest Blogger: Paula Smeltekop on visiting Carura

My sister Paula is here visiting, and she agreed to write for the Carmen Pampa blog. Thanks, Paula!

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The beauty and uniqueness of Bolivia is astounding. Our first stop after landing in the FRIGID El Alto Airport in La Paz was to visit College's nursing student José Luis Gómez in his hometown of Carura. Three taxi rides later, Jose Luis' extended family welcomed us warmly with food, companionship and a beautiful place to stay. We are standing above the River in 80 degree weather contemplating a swim. Unbelieveable that we had to change our clothes from winter to summer in just a few hours!

Butterfly man

We have a new graduate, a butterfly man, Hebert Velásquez. Hebert researched the life cycle of two butterflies, Danaus plexippus (the Monarch) and Leptophobia aripa (a delicate, white thing called the White Mountain butterfly, which is also a cabbage family pest).


Photo: A Monarch butterfly ready to leave its cocoon.

Photo: The White Mountain butterfly.


The work was done in conjunction with the Cotapata National Park, the Instituto de Ecología at the state university in La Paz called the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, and the Fundación Puma. The idea was to develop an inexpensive and low-tech way to raise these two species of butterflies. The Monarch is a commercial species, sold live to butterfly houses and sold mounted as a decoration. The White Mountain is released en masse at weddings and other fiestas, a delicate cloud of white butterflies to celebrate the occasion. A community butterfly project in the national park, called Mariposario Nayriri, will use the data to commercialize these two species sustainably.

Here is Hebert is the lab, changing the caterpillars' food.



Great job, Hebert.

Victor Hugo and Maria Esther

Volunteers Jessica and Kirsten interviewed some students who received support for their graduation projects from conBolivia. ConBolivia is an NGO that supports different efforts in Bolivia, and faithfully supports students at the College. Here is what Jess and Kirsten wrote:

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Victor Hugo Belmonte is from El Alto and came to Carmen Pampa to study Agronomy because he likes plants and people. His senior project is about the drying time of coffee beans. He chose this project because he wanted to create a more efficient way to dry coffee, a problem in our Cloud Forest area. He is very pleased with his results so far: he has found that using the tarp cuts down drying time and therefore cuts down costs. He is currently in the writing stage of his project. He wants to thank conBolivia for the help at a time when he really needed it.

[Andy wrote about Victor Hugo last August – see his interview here.]

Maria Esther is originally from Caranavi, a town four hours from Carmen Pampa, but now lives in Carmen Pampa with her family. She chose to study Agronomy at Carmen Pampa because she thinks it is practical and useful. She is studying the in vitro cultivation of orchids with coconut juice (that liquid in the coconut), potato flour, banana flour, and tomato juice to see which would be best in the lab. She chose this project because this type of flower is disappearing in the countryside and she wants to increase the production of all types of orchids. In order to do this, she says that it is important to find a way to keep the prices low. She is currently writing up her research. After she graduates, she wants to continue to study, focusing on lab work. She wants to work in the lab with endangered plants and teach people about the environment and how to prevent extinction of plants. She wants to thank conBolivia for the financial support that helped her to quickly finish her fieldwork.

[Katrina talked to María Esther last August – see her interview here.]

Three May graduates

So there were three graduates this month, and I had something to do with each one.

First was Miguel Manrique, who looked at two important families of insects, Reduvidae and Pentatomidae. Reduvids are called assassin bugs because they are insane predators, like the Terminator, totally destroying other insects, often pests in our fields. Pentatomids include stink bugs, and can be garden pests. He discovered that there is less diversity in these families than other families, and that there is a gradient of species as one moves from the forest to the forest edge to the field. I was Miguel's research project adviser, and he is now the head of our insect diversity project, which supervises the collection of insects all around the College.




Then came Jorge Apala. Jorge and I started the goat project in Coroico Viejo in 2002. We traveled all over Bolivia in search of goats to populate the project, at one point driving from Santa Cruz to Cochabamba to La Paz with a Land Cruiser full of goats -- 18 goats at once! (It was a smelly ride.) Of the goats we bought and brought to our experiment station in Coroico Viejo, Jorge discovered that the variation between milk production depended more on the individual goat than its purported race. I personally had a special love for the Anglonubians. They were the friendliest...




Last was Edwin Zapata. He researched wasps that live in our forest and fields. His research demonstrated that many wasps are able to survive in different habitats, most of them looking for other insects to scoop up and eat. I was the project adviser for Edwin, too.



It is always hugely gratifying to see these young people take their oath as a new agronomist or veterinarian, and hear their words of thanks to their professors and other mentors. None of them forget to thank Sister Damon for how she touched each of them personally. And now it is their turn to move others.

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.