Hola Chicos!
Following from the last post we really just want to keep you informed on the events unfolding day-by-day in Cochabamba! We are so excited for the potential that the next 6 weeks hold. We are learning to embrace each experience and are so thankful for this beautiful country and all that the people promote.
This week is one of celebration in itself as Wednesday marked the day of independence; on this day in 1825 independence was declared over the people. It was a free country, aside of Spain's rule. Now, in 2014 the occasion is as clearly marked as then - with flags and attire worn to parade the streets with music and a day for the whole family to commemorate. Both Monday and Tuesday were marked with such pride! The children had been practising for several weeks. Such dedication and love is poured out over the beloved country that is Bolivia.
Each and every one of us is experiencing Bolivia through our own eyes; but we collectively have greater understanding. Despite many traditions and shared viewpoints, Bolivians live in a great variety of ways as we do: from the modern daily dress to the polleras many women still adorn, to the ways in which they eat meals in the daily routine.
Bolivian life very often incorporates elements of faith and we have been so preciously welcomed into specific Church families in our communities. God is allowing us to use our gifts in connecting and musical ability to serve. We are developing our Spanish each day and often impressing ourselves with the conversations we are able to have. Challenge is what we love, we said; and challenge is what we face!
A team session with our in-country manager reminded all of us the depth and scale of poverty. It was hard-hitting. 22,000 children die every single day from poverty-related causes.
However, we were encouraged by the difference each of us can and will
make in our daily lives - which we have control over. We also looked at
the Millenium Development Goals and felt optimistic when we heard that
since the goals were set things have improved greatly, for example the number of people without access to clean water has reduced from 1.5 billion to 1 billion, at this moment in time. Progress is happening.
On project, a one-off challenge we faced was cleaning the storeroom. Only this storeroom was so dusty we needed masks! It contained lots of broken furniture, old files and a nasty smell, which turned out to be a dead cat!! It was a great afternoon of team building and satisfaction at a completed job.
One of the greatest challenges we have encountered has definitely been in that of our new youth club -
¡Movimiento! Plan in hand we set out to begin at 2pm, but much like the adults, the children in this culture are very much living on extended time! Bolivian time. The first week was eventful. It felt like some of the children had never encountered discipline before! When you don't speak the same language trying to achieve anything can be challenging. However, 35 children attended the first week and this in itself is a great success! Preparation for week 2 was more rigorous and enabled us to have a more structured program; which ran more smoothly. Half of the children got to learn from our tremendous dancing ability! The others showed their competitive side and strength on the volleyball court.
Another responsibility we have while working at Oeser is assisting at the nursery and enabling children to travel to the nursery. This project is called Tia Shirley. We have really enjoyed being part of this and it has been so rewarding. It's such an incredible opportunity for many of these children to attend nursery. The children who attend the school have access to English lessons at various levels. Those of us who've joined the young people have enjoyed these lessons and found them very insightful. We will be more involved with creating learning games and resources for class in the coming weeks.
Aside from our focus on youth and childrens' work, we are promoting Mikuniy -Quinutrion. This has involved sales events and discussing product development. There have been many successes including a one day sales total exceeding the previous record!! We are learning each and every time what works and draws a crowd, for example, perfecting our Spanish sales techniques and attracting attention with Arnie the armadillo! Whilst out and about we have made connections with several local business owners who are interested in selling the cereal bars and supporting Oeser. This includes a new contract with a stall owner to sell the bars at a popular Saturday market and a 5 minute pitch on television! It's so rewarding to be involved in Mikuniy as the profits go directly to the school.
We are learning a lot from our time here and despite difficulties we face we are really enjoying the experience. Highlights from last week include friendship day (Pique Macho for dinner, and exchanging small gifts with the family and our counterpart Bolivian team members) and a visit to Miss Pink (a nail salon supporting victims of sexual exploitation).
Thanks for your continued support and motivation.
Lots of love and blessings,
The Oeser Chicas.x
