When I first heard that there was a boarding school located outside of the city with about 50 teenage kids, I was excited to visit them. Its located in "el campo" (a more rural area). On my first day there, a volunteer from Bolivia, showed me around the grounds. Usually in the morning the kids go to a nearby school in a bus just for them while ascending up the mountains and they come back to the boarding school around lunch time. In the afternoon the kids hang around, they have time set out for recreational time, hw time, and a time to learn new skills that most other kids do not learn to do in the city.
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| A girl from the rural boarding school sharing her experiences with kids visiting from the city |
Saint John Bosco was known for creating an atmosphere of education for the kids, for their betterment. In addition to learning about !God!, the kids he taught learned trades so that they can contribute to society (and to keep out of trouble). At the Boarding school here in Yapacani, the kids raise all different types of fruits, vegetables, and chickens. They learn to raise, kill, and clean their chickens. After taking a small bus from the boarding school to the city, the kid sell the chickens in the market in the city. (They walk around shouting "pollo!.. pollo!.. pollllllooooo! catorce por un kilo ..pollo!) The money they earn goes back to support their boarding school and recreational activities.
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| Did you know that placing the chickens in boiling makes it easier to pull off the feathers? |
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| Pulling feathers off and cleaning out the guts makes a great social activity |
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| we took a small bus to the market with 3 baskets of smelly chickens, but freshly killed and "cleaned" on that day |
I really like the how they live like a family. Its like they are 50 brothers and sisters. The bolivian volunteer that is temporarily living there told me that she has learned so much from the kids and has conquered her fears. Ive learned so much about their culture from them. Ive learned about their local foods here, especially the fruit: achachairu, ocoro, pacay (these everyday fruit names you see in the supermarkets in the USA. :) Im usually picked up from the church in yapacani on a motorcycle, one of the kids comes and gets me and likes to teach me "how to ride." I also learn a little about Quechua from some of them that can speak the traditional language but I tell them I just cant learn that right now, spanish is already enough haha. por faaavorrrr
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| The teenage boys climb barefoot up the pacay trees to get the biggest and sweetest ones |
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| We are getting ready to break open the pacay fruit. It looks like a giant string bean but these bean shaped pods contain inside a sweet delicious treat. |
Also, I wish you all in the USA a Happy Thanksgiving with your families. We have Christmas camp in December "Navilandia." In January we have another Christmas camp "Villa Feliz." Kids do not have school December-January in Bolivia so the Christmas camps are everyday during the week, obviously Christmas is "celebrated" much differently in the USA so Im really excited to experience these festivities. Please pray for us all down here during those times. I will be praying for all of you in the USA in this Joyful time of year.
