Electrical Training

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As some of you may know, my bestie's husband Adam joined me for the start of my trip. He came with the intention of doing general repairs around the centers as well as teaching some basic electrical.

We have had a bit of a slow start when it comes to skills training due to the the protests and the holidays. However on Thursday Adam will be able to start the electrical classes. I am joining him to help and I will also be teaching some financial literacy.

Students in Bolivia only attend public school for half a day regardless of the grade. The reason is that the families need their children at home to help with farming and chores. Because of this, we have the ability to hold classes for students in the morning and the afternoon, assuming their parents do not need their assistance.

Personally, I have been struggling quite a bit with the organization. While they do amazing work, I was given the impression that some of their staff speaks English when in fact none of them do. Even with my translation earbuds I think it has caused the staff to not engage me the way they might otherwise. In addition to that, their focus is more on children than my target of women. I plan to spend the next week here assisting Adam's classes and teaching some sexual health courses. But when Adam returns home, I am going to relocate to La Paz and work with a different organization. I am still doing some exploratory research, but I have found one organization in which I am quite interested.

I know that situations like this are going to happen and it is all part of the learning experience. I am thankful that it didn't happen the first time around as it might have made me think that the volunteer partnerships I am seeking aren't realistic. But thanks to Hope and Irene, I know there are perfect fits out there and others might miss the mark. I hope that my second try in La Paz will be a better match for my skill set.

I am keeping my eye on the protests in Santa Cruz. Unfortunately, the situation has continued to get worse. There are meetings happening this week. But, if they do not result in a resolution the rest of the country will start to have protests every day effective Monday. I am still unclear what effect this could have on us in Tarija. If the situation was to continue I don't know if it will cause problems for me in La Paz. As I understand it right now, if you want to fly out of the country (which has to be through Santa Cruz) you need to walk to the airport or have a connecting flight. The last major protest lasted 21 days. We are currently at 14 days, so I hope it may end soon.

I have learned quite a bit about the last major protest which was in 2019. It was caused by the public opinion that the then President, Evo Morales was guilty of election fraud. At first the Morales said he would agree to a run off, but after 21 days of protests he left the country. While I haven't found this next part in articles I have had three separate Bolivians tell me that when he left he took a private plane to Mexico with Millions of Bolivianos, perhaps Billions, that he stole from the country.

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Photos

A new guest at the center
We can’t believe how sweet and well behaved the dogs are