Having travelled around Latin America a fair bit and studied and worked with NGOs around the world, I have to admit I was rather blasé about arriving at Proyecto Horizonte, Ushpa-Ushpa and Cochabamba in general. I quickly learned that there is something different about Proyecto Horizonte and the work it does.

From a volunteers perspective one of the most impressive parts of the organisation is also one of the most challenging. You are encouraged to take the initiative here, and the project serves the community, not the volunteers, as any good NGO should. There are no endless hours of painting pretty pictures on walls of schools where the children cannot afford to eat, let alone buy books; no ”human safaris” watching the daily struggle for survival nor endless photo shoots with “authentic” traditionally dressed Bolivians. Instead, volunteers work alongside local builders helping to strip the roof of a building to be used for community empowerment, or organize drama workshops with Bolivian psychologists to help fight domestic abuse within the community. Volunteers’ donations allow for a healthy meal to be provided for the poorest and most malnourished schoolchildren, whilst those with medical experience work alongside Proyecto Horizonte´s medical team running various programs. On a personal level, volunteer- community engagement is tricky, especially with such a high turnover of volunteers. However, by taking the initiative I found it relatively easy to interact with some of the locals and get at least a very basic idea of the “reality” of Ushpa-Ushpa, some of the problems and their root causes.

As a recently graduated student, it was daunting to be faced with the prospect of choosing how best to try and help the project. Although I´ve only been here a month I´ve found myself in a wide variety of situations. These have ranged from suffering cold sweats in the bright sun clambering along wobbling roof beams (whilst silently being mocked by the builders who had been running along the same beams in sandals moments earlier) to staring into a computer screen deciding how best to promote the work the organisation does. Where else would you have the chance to work in the pouring rain sweeping water off the unprotected office ceiling in the morning and then interview the head of the night school which offers the adults of the community their only chance of educative improvement in the evening?

Apart from the work, there is of course play, and the Bolivians certainly know how to play. I found that there is a certain running theme within Bolivian celebrations: decadence. An invitation for “lunch” with my host family would turn into an afternoon and evening gorging on meat and red wine, an offer from a stranger to share a beer would turn into hours debating the merits of selecting 1950s Colombian music or Oasis on the nearby jukebox. A quick trip to Oruro carnival rapidly descended into 24 hours of dancing (watching and participating), eating, drinking, throwing water and foam and genuinely wondering if it would ever end. The spirit and generosity of the Bolivians is simply unmatched.

My advice to anyone coming to volunteer at Proyecto Horizonte is to immerse yourself. There seems to be a place for everyone here, be it in front of a laptop typing up statistics on the local community, stood in front of a class of 40 screaming children, out on a football pitch with 2 teams of excited and unorganized adolescents, behind a microscope analyzing blood samples, working with victims of domestic abuse or even  sweeping water off a roof in the rain!