Amazon Trip

A couple of the volunteers headed into the Jungle over the weekend and Fiona tells us about their great experience!

This weekend four of us volunteers packed up our things and headed on an 

intrepid adventure.

We made our way from Cochabamba to La Paz and from La Paz to Rurrenabaque, 

in the Amazon basin. I think that Bolivia is most associated with its mountains 

and the high altitude, but after returning from this trip I want to tell everybody 

that Bolivia also has the Amazon rainforest, and it’s incredible. 

I’ve never been on a more perfect trip: the tropical heat, the wildlife, the 

company. Everything was perfect. We booked a 3-day tour and the only thing 

wrong with it is that I wish it was longer! Sometimes when you do tours like 

these you’re being set up for disappointment; the things they advertise just 

aren’t real or you might get ripped off by a dodgy company. But this company 

provided everything they said they would and more. 

Here are just some of the things we did: a sunrise boat trip, swimming with 

pink dolphins, a night time boat trip to see the crocodiles’ eyes in the dark, 

an anaconda search, volleyball at the sunset bar, piranha fishing and general 

wildlife spotting. We saw lots of different types of birds from hoatzins and 

jabirus to toucans and fishing hawks. It would take me forever to list everything 

we saw but the main things on the pampas are crocodiles and alligators, caiman, 

turtles, capybaras, squirrel monkeys and we even saw a sloth! 

When you go to the Amazon you have a choice between doing a Pampas tour and 

a Jungle tour. If you want to feel like you’re actually deep in the forest and you’re 

more interested in walking and vegetation then the Jungle tour is probably the 

one for you. But if, like us, you really want to see as much wildlife as possible 

then the Pampas is where it’s at. 

I had such a good experience in the Amazon and can’t wait to go back one day! 

Volunteers at the Kermes and at Cristo

Fiona and the other volunteers had a busy Sunday at Proyecto Horizonte and then off to explore the Cristo. 

This Sunday there was a traditional kermes (food fair) at the colegio to celebrate the sixth anniversary of the San Vicente de Paul school in Ushpa Ushpa. I arrived to find the party in full swing and was impressed at how much food was available. From charque (a kind of beef jerky) to sopa de maní (peanut soup), we were spoilt for choice. The queue for the chorizo was a bit too long, which was unfortunate because it was obviously the most popular choice!

There was traditional dancing from all ages, and the outfits were lovely and colourful.

After getting our fill of food and dancing, some of the other volunteers and I decided to go to the Cristo statue, which overlooks the city of Cochabamba. It’s apparently the biggest statue of Christ in South America, surpassing the one in Rio by about a head. However, it’s not as famous as Rio’s Cristo because it’s not quite as high up!

The views were very impressive and it helped me get my bearings of Cochabamba a little better (I even spotted my house!), and I think we all want to go back. Some want to venture up there by foot but I think I’ll just stick to the cable cars! 

The Day-Care Centre’s Day Out

Fiona shares her adventure with the babies from the daycare and how their day at the park was. 



If you walked into the day-care centre on Tuesday this week you might have

wondered where all the children had gone. The answer would have been: to the

Parque Del Bicentenario, a beautiful park in the north of Cochabamba. At about

9:30 on Tuesday morning we bundled about 60 children into two buses and

made our way happily to the park.

I was very apprehensive about this little excursion. I had only just gotten used

to looking after the little ones in the safety of the day-care centre, and now I had

to be responsible for them out in the big, bad world. What if I lost one? What

if they hurt themselves somehow? Of course, I wasn’t solely in charge of them

and there’s always someone who knows exactly what to do, but I was still pretty

nervous at the thought!

But all this apprehension was for nothing, and it turned out to be a very

relaxing, very enjoyable day (apart from having to chase after three 2 year-olds

simultaneously every now and then). The day pretty much played out in the

same way as it would have done in the day-care centre; the only difference being

that we were outside enjoying the glorious sunshine all day. We had a snack,

played on the slides a little bit, we went for a walk, had some lunch, and then my

favourite part: naptime. In the day-care centre we hang the babies up on the cots

using awayo blankets and we did the same in the park, except instead of cots

we used trees! I thought it was so adorable and we all found it pretty funny that

everyone that walked past us stared and pointed at the hanging babies!

While the babies slept, we relaxed under the trees and chatted about various

things and it was nice to get to know the ladies I work with at the day-care centre

a bit better because there’s usually not much chance to chat with 20 babies in

need of attention! We finished the afternoon by cleaning the children up and

making them presentable for their parents and, after a little ride round the park

on a trensito, we made our way back to Ushpa Ushpa for 4:30pm.

All in all, it was a really great excursion, and the children seemed to really enjoy

themselves, which is the most important part. I hope I can be a part of more

outings with the day-care centre and maybe next time I won’t feel so nervous

beforehand!

Working with the Grupo de Chicas

Fiona one of our newest volunteers hasn't had a problem fitting in amongst the girls at our youth group. Here's a short glimpse of what she and the other volunteers have done to create a safe environment for the young women of Ushpa Ushpa.

Since starting work at Proyecto Horizonte I’ve only been to the girls’ group twice so far but it’s fast becoming my favourite part of the week. It’s on once a week for about 3 hours and it’s a place for the girls of Ushpa-Ushpa to come and hang out, listen to music, and get to know each other. 

And it’s the getting to know each other part that is the main focus of the group at the moment. Or rather, confidence and trust in each other. After talking to the girls about who they could talk to if they had a problem or a secret, the overwhelming response was apparently ‘no one’. They don’t have anyone they trust enough to confide in; and this is something that surely has to change. Being a teenager is hard enough as it is, but not having anyone to talk to about it must make it that much harder.

So, that’s what tonight’s group was about. And I loved it.

We started off with jewellery-making and, although it didn’t start up too many conversations since everyone was concentrating pretty hard, it was fun to see what everyone produced at the end, and the girls let me take a few snaps of their handiwork.

Then, Jennifer came up with a great game to break the ice between the girls. It basically meant everybody ended up sitting on top of each other and laughing a lot, so the physical barriers between the girls were broken down which definitely helps a lot when it comes to trust.

The next game was Truth or Dare. Dangerous territory, but everyone made it through unscathed. I thought this was a great idea because both truth and dare require a certain amount of trust in the people you’re with: you tell the truth in the hope that you won’t get ridiculed, and you do a dare in the hope you won’t get ridiculed.

But the lights cut out halfway through. And, after a bit of screaming and running around, the group turned to the one activity you just have to do during a blackout: ghost stories. And, although I didn’t understand much of them (I know there was something about a black dog), it was fun to just sit in the dark and listen to the girls telling stories.

Overall, it was a really good night and I think the girls are beginning to trust each other more, and, as they see our faces there every week, I hope they’ll begin to trust us volunteers as well.