De geleerde les ook nu weer: 'to love is to serve'
De partner vertelt... van 24 oktober 2017 door Carlos Sanchez
Project BO217 Patuju was developed in a community near the municipality of Cotoca, 13 km from the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra - Bolivia. For the community members and leaders of the area it was the first time that they worked together with an organization in the Netherlands.
Introduction on the project
Santa Cruz de la Sierra is among the 10 cities with the highest population growth in South America. Every day hundreds of families from other cities in Bolivia migrate to try to find a better quality of life in this city. This is why the Municipality of Cotoca, and in this specific case the community of Patuju, has seen how every day families of migrants come to live in this area. It is a challenge to be able to provide opportunities for education, because it was not counted with enough classrooms to receive more students. The last three years more than 150 children were rejected and had to stop studying or find a distant place to go to school.
The construction
The construction project consists of two classrooms of 8x7 meters, with a capacity to accommodate 30 to 40 students per classroom.
When the group of Holland arrived, they found the foundations finished and they were in charge of raising the walls up to the height of the chain of concrete for the ceiling. The work was very well coordinated with the technical leader of the group (Alwin Kamphuis) and the Bolivian technical leader (Don Adolfo Lucas). All materials were supplied, the tools were clean and listed to be used. The work schedule was from 8:00 am until 12:00 in the morning, in the afternoon it was from 13:30 to 17:00. The group had a very good performance and progress was significant. Our construction team in Bolivia was very pleased with the work of the participants.
Facilitation of the team
Accomodation:
The Educational Unit consists of four classrooms, two of them were chosen and cleaned to be used as dormitories. Here in Bolivia we have 35 mattresses that were distributed among the participants. The provision of water was always continuous as well as electricity.
The women in the group were assigned two bathrooms and two showers. The men built 3 showers and the community got two portable bathrooms. These bathrooms worked very well the first three days of the project, then we had some problems to clean them and empty them. At that moment we made the decision to allocate a bathroom for the men of those who were used by the women.
Food:
The food had a menu based on Bolivian food, several days some participants helped in the kitchen and they learned to prepare Bolivian meals.
Children Program:
All the groups of participants did a very good job. They worked hard for the children to learn the Bible lessons and also to have a good time playing.
Life Skills Program:
Members of the group learned (under the supervision of the community) to kill chickens, fish and clean the fish that the group could then consume. This experience was very good, because it helped a lot to better connect with the community.
The men of the group attended a game of the Bolivian professional soccer league and lived the passion of soccer, but in a very different way to Holland.
Every time we had to buy more construction material, someone was assigned to go to help us buy, so they could learn something that is very Bolivian: ask to reduce (bargain). Many times that they thought that the Bolivians were in a discussion, but later on they learned that this is the way they do business here in Bolivia.
Cultural and touristic outings
From the first day on the group experienced life in Bolivia. When they arrived in the community of Patuju they were waiting for a caravan of mototaxis (motorcycles that are taxis) to take them to where the community expected them. Mototaxi’s are a fundamental part of life and economy of Patujú because all the people transport themselves by motorcycles. The group was welcomed by the community and authorities of the Honorable Alcaldia de Cotoca, who invited them to taste typical food of the area. There were also many children's balls, this way the participants could learn more about the Bolivian culture.
The group participated in the parade of the 6 of August, the day of Bolivia. They joint with the students and adults of Patuju. One weekend we made a 3 hour trip to Samaipata. During this trip the group could get to know Bolivia with its great mountains, they visited the archaeological ruins of the Incas and the trip ended with a day of rest in the Cuevas Falls. The community members were surprised and grateful that the group performed a typical dance of the area on their last day.
Transportation
The group was always transported in a bus of the company that works with Formando Vidas from the first project on. They make use of professional bus drivers and the buses are in very good condition. For the transportation of the leaders or emergencies we always had the coordinator's car available.
Safety / Field Security Plan
Security was always provided because from the first day on the Bolivian National Police committed to patrol frequently and especially at night at the place where the group was sleeping. In each bedroom slept a leader who had the door key for safety.
Cooperation with the WSN project leaders
We are always grateful for the good choice of leaders. This time was no exception. Cooperation, communication, organization with the leaders of the group was very fluid and clear. Every day we met to talk and organize things. From the first day on we understood that we must have flexibility on both sides to be able to carry out the project, this was well understood by this group. Excellent leader and staff.
Involvement of the stakeholders
Applicant
From the moment we contacted the community to inform them that they would benefit from this project, the application community had a very active participation. They are very well organized and whenever the leader of the World Servants group requested a meeting with the community, we always had a large number of people present representing all the organizations of the community. We should also highlight the good work of the Director and the educational unit of the Educational Unit, they were always ready to help us organize any activity.
Staff
The Staff of Forming Lives for World Servants projects is the same that we have used since the first Project, each team member knows and knows how to develop their work, having experience of several projects helps when building, cooking, translating. I am very grateful for our staff, this year we had a new translator who performed in an excellent way.
Beneficiaries
Teachers and students are very happy to know that they will be able to have new classrooms, because they will have more comfort and space for their new students. The possibility of having a small soccer field behind the new classrooms also fills them with hope.
The local authorities
The community and its leaders were challenged to fulfill their part in the work with all the organizations and people committing to this project. We organizations that worked together to carry out this project are:
- Honorable Mayor of Cotoca
- Patuju Neighborhood Board
Community
The community and inhabitants of Patuju participated through their organizations:
- Territorial Base Organization (OTB) Patuju
- Parent and Parent Meeting of the Patuju National Educational Unit
Development of the program
We are currently working on the completion of the walls and look forward to delivering the new classrooms before the start of the new school year 2018.
Lessons learned
The lesson we learned is the same from the first project, to love is to serve. There is no better way than to show and teach love than by sticking.
The inhabitants of Patuju will always remember the day that their life and that of their neighborhood changed with the arrival of the group of Dutch. It changed their lives because many became friends with the participants and had a great time together. As there is not always the possibility that someone from Europe comes to work in your neighborhood and becomes your friend, changes the life of the neighborhood. This is also seen in the fact that their leaders were interviewed on television to talk about the Project, community leadership was strengthened and supported to undertake other projects of their own.
