It is hard to believe another year has gone by and we are back in Bolivia again. Luckily, we just missed a rather large, aggressive bout of rain. While the rain posed several set backs in the past few months, the project has progressed much while we were away.
With only four travelers this year (Connie, Ralph, Melissa and I), the journey down south seemed easier than usual. We arrived to a sunny Cochabamba on Friday afternoon. Exhausted from the altitude and long trip, we rested a bit and then headed out to orient ourselves, find food, and an internet cafe. After a few phone calls, a pizza (yes, pizza was our first Bolivian dinner!) and a good night´s sleep, we were ready to get to work the next day.
Ernesto, with his warm smile and friendly embrace, greeted us at the site on Saturday morning. We first took some time to observe the work that had been done on the orphanage since we were here last Spring. Aside from the loss of a few roof panels in the rain storms, we were pleased with what we saw. On the first story of the orphanage, the walls have been repainted and it is now equipped with an oven, which is used for baking lessons for some of the older children in the community. Monica, a twelve year old student in the afterschool program, says she loves learning to bake different breads and pastries. We´re hoping to see this process in action this week! Ernesto has also started an organic garden, which unfortunately was consumed by grazing cattle recently, so we´ll hopefully have time to build a better fence this week.
Our main goal this trip is to finish construction of the second story. Brick layers have already begun building the walls. Tomorrow, we´ll purchase more brick and drywall and take it from there. In addition to construction, we plan to do several arts and crafts projects with the kids this week. Some of our ideas include paper beads and friendship bracelets. Melissa, our artist, is heading this part of the project.
As usual, our plan is constantly adapting to the weather, availability of materials and labor, the afterschool program needs and other obstacles, so we´ll see what the week brings. Pictures are on the way!
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