Setbacks, difficulties, and finally--some shreds of success.

March has flown by in a blur of canned foam and water balloons for Carnival, and now April is looming close and my number of weeks left in Cochabamba has dwindled to the single digits. The past month has been characterized by a healthy mix of excitement, frustration, and laughter--which has shown me that after half a year at Proyecto Horizonte, I'm just beginning to feel like I'm doing more than flopping uselessly about. (Okay, maybe I didn't feel like I was flopping, exactly, but I'm just starting to get into a groove where I feel adequately useful).

Cold and wet after celebrating Carnival at the school with my students.

The Excitement: 
In the past month, I've been focusing mainly on three things: English classes and extra tutoring for new students, arranging in-home nutrition workshops for a group of women in the community, and a youth leadership initiative that I've been thinking about practically since my arrival. English classes have been getting better and better as my students become more comfortable around me and my confidence in my teaching increases. The nutrition workshops are finally starting to look like a possibility as we explore possibilities for using outside resources to bring student nutritionists out to Mineros San Juan. But finally, my youth leadership initiative is finally up and running and off the ground. I'm thrilled to see it finally have decent attendance. The participants seem to be enjoying the meetings and activities, and I can already see them starting to realize and correct the mistakes they make when working in teams. I'll write another post about the leadership program soon. Check back!


The Frustration:
As wonderful as the above is, it's been quite a struggle to reach this point with everything. In English classes, I've had a rough time managing some classes of unruly (and sometimes manipulative) kids, who at times have made me doubt my abilities as a volunteer and teacher. Organizing the nutrition workshops has also been difficult. With the initially grueling work of arranging groups of neighbors done, we've had a challenging time locating a professional to give the workshops, as the majority of our contacts are in La Paz for some time and unavailable to come to the community. This has forced us to postpone the workshops' start. With the leadership program I was initially frustrated by how few students showed interest, and even more frustrated by those who showed interest but failed to act upon it by showing up to the first meeting. It was certainly hard to face my first leadership meeting with just two students, but it only doubled my resolve to encourage the kids to come and make the initiative a success. The next meeting saw ten teenagers turn up, proving that perseverance is probably the most important factor when working in this environment.


The Laughter:
The way I've turned most of my frustration into excitement is by laughing. Of course it's hard to deal with disappointment, especially after working very hard for something. But one of the great things about working at Proyecto Horizonte is that the work is never done. When something doesn't work, try again, change it up, and do it over. Eventually it'll start to work. That attitude has allowed me to see a lot of these potential setbacks as funny rather than upsetting. The most important thing is not to be discouraged and to keep your spirits up. Energy and persistence conquer all things, after all. 


If you're considering coming to work with us, please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions at keah20@gmail.com and I will answer as promptly and candidly as possible.

A busy few weeks

The last few weeks at Proyecto Horizonte have been productive. Productive unlike any other weeks here in Bolivia. The fact is, things take time to happen here and after six months of trying, failing, pushing, pulling and sometimes succeeding I am pleased to say that some things have happened.

In school last week we celebrated Student's Day. This involved the often serious teachers letting some steam off and performing for the students in an array of bright and colorful costumes. As for my part, I was able to add to my "I-never-thought-I'd-come-to-Bolivia-and..." list. Profe Mery, who I help in the English classes, asked me to sing Immortal by Evanescence with her, I obliged and sang (not well) in front of the whole school. So now it’s on the list.

Also last week, I was happy to see the first tangible product of our SODIS Safe Water Project when we conducted training with all Proyecto Horizonte staff. My first public speech in Spanish wasn't too bad (I hope) and the participation and engagement from staff was very motivating for me. The project is finally starting to feel real. Now I have my fingers and toes crossed for the launch of the project in the community with SODIS Day this Monday. If all goes well it will be a day of activities, workshops and do-or-die for my theatre group!

With only two weeks left here in Cochabamba my days are numbered and the 'lasts' are starting. No time to get nostalgic though. Phew!

Que mas? (what else can I do here?)

Sarah Sinnott (blog 3)

The great thing about working with Proyecto Horizonte is that you can pretty much do what you like! In the sense that if you see somewhere you and your expertise can help then by all means, help. So aside from working in the school I have my fingers in a few other pies. Last week I realised it might be a few too many pies, but with just over three months left here I know that time will show me what will rise, what is burnt, what tastes good and what is just a little under-cooked in the middle. So in terms of what else I’m doing here:

A little marketing and PR – I’m working with Tantakuna, this is the women’s microenterprise group that consists of a bakery and a handicrafts group. Their banana cake is good, very good, and I love banana cake so I will call myself a connoisseur. We’re trying to sell their cupcakes ´Cochabamba Cupcakes´ at some of the nice spots around town to not only make a little money but also as a channel to talk about the Proyecto and Tantakuna to local Cochabambinos and travellers.
A little communications – A new website takes a lot of work! Fingers crossed I can help get this thing live...soon!

A little branding – Tantakuna is a group of mothers that has a story to tell and we need to tell it in the best way possible. I am working to develop some new words and branding for us to get the word out, both here and abroad.

A little product development – The women of Tantakuna produce some beautiful (and very technical) weaving and knitting but not all of it appeals to the western world. So one of my first ideas when I saw the products of Tantakuna was how cute the key chains were and that with a little work we could appeal to the baby/kid gift market abroad. So along with a fellow Kiwi volunteer here (who had a lot of persistence, patience and better Spanish than me!) we have worked with the group to produce the first samples. I think they rock! Still samples that I think we can make some more improvements on but so far, so good (no pictures yet, it is all still top secret)!

A little design – It’s quite funny to think I’m working on Xmas cards here after all the time, politics, sweat and maybe tears that were involved every year in the process in my old job working for a large corporate with a strong CRM programme! Here in Bolivia, they are still an excellent tool for communicating with our international audience, so we’re looking at running some art classes or the like to get some creative designs rolling from the kids at school.

A little social marketing (fingers crossed) – I’m not sure why this is last on my list, maybe because it is what I am most excited about and therefore most nervous and anxious about. I want to do some social marketing/behaviour change work on nutrition and/or health in the Ushpa-Ushpa community, no small task given my budget (zero) and my Spanish (slowly creeping above zero). I’m still in the research phase and from the first few interviews the most used phrase has been “Es muy dificil” (“It’s very difficult”)!!

I won’t let that deter me (yet)!

To contact me directly on my experience so far, and for any further information I could help with, please send an email to sarah.sinnott@gmail.com