It gives us pleasure to inform you this month, that our innovative concept “Weekly Boarding in Indigenous Families” also enjoys great interest beyond our project in Copacabana. The program offers a solution for the difficulties of school access in rural regions. In April, our local coordinator, David, traveled to the very rural region Chaco Chuquisaqueño in the center of Bolivia. He met there with local representatives of the Monteagudo and Vaca Guzmán district. The majority of the regional population belongs to the fourth-largest indigenous group of Bolivia, the Guaraní, The region is poorer than the Bolivian average. In spite of the barren and little productive ground, the majority of the people live on agriculture and livestock production. The road network is poorly develop. For the children the way to a secondary school is long and tiring, by bus the ride is dangerous.

Children from the Monteagudo district on their way home.

With our expertise in the matter of the difficulties of school access we were able to inform the local representatives in an exchange about the advantages and possibilities of a “Weekly Boarding in Indigenous Families” in comparison with conventional solutions, like school buses and boarding schools. The local politicians showed great interest in our concept. Especially the familiar care situation, the possibility of a dignified source of income for women and the multipliers effect for the local economy were convincing. At the moment it is unclear whether a cooperation with the districts to establish a new “Weekly Boarding in Indigenous Families” is possible. For that reason, the situation in the two districts should be examined in the next months.