Quality Time at Emilia Wojtyla Shelter

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I have fallen into a nice rhythm with my volunteer work at EWS.

The center has 4 students from LaPaz University doing their social work internship at the center. One woman named Betty, who I think is in her 50s, lives near me in La Paz. So I join her in the morning for the commute up to the center.

Each morning I have had a meeting with a different group from the staff to start the discussion about transitioning from a shelter to a skills training center. Yesterday we had a meeting with the whole staff, interns, and founder to discuss this change. We started to brainstorm job opportunities that we think are realistic for the women to learn and be successful.

I hope to start some financial literacy courses while I am still here. But I know for this organization most of my work will be behind the scenes and the visible work will (hopefully) happen after I am gone.

Yesterday afternoon we had a birthday party for one of the boys at the center who has leukemia. The mother struggles to care for him in addition to her other children so he spends the majority of his time at the center. We had a cake, balloons and a few small presents for him.

I have enjoyed meeting people in La Paz when I am not at the center. I have two new friends: one from Argentina who has lived here for a few years now, and one from Bolivia with whom I have had several dinners and evenings out and about La Paz. They both have good English so I have learned a lot from them. I have also met up with some travelers that are passing through. There is an upside to social media sometimes! Last night I had dinner with a nurse from Spain who is traveling for a year through South America and a girl from Canary Islands who is working and traveling through the continent. They both had great travel stories to share!

I did go to one very cool restaurant called Popular. The staff are all students from a local culinary program. The menu changes each week with inventive twists on traditional dishes. The three course set meal is $10 USD. This would have to cost over $100 in the US. It was amazing!

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Photos

Street Food: Salchipapas
thinly sliced pan-fried beef sausages served with French fries