Katie in Bolivia

So I am here in Cochabamba, Bolivia working with Save the Children on a school-based health and nutrition program. Although located in a valley and surrounded by towering mountains, Cochabamba stands at about 9,000 feet above sea level. I arrived this past Sunday (May11th) and have been running ever since.

A little about what I am doing here:

So the program I am working with distributes Vitamin A and iron tablets to the 50 poorest schools in Cochabamba. The idea is to train the teachers to administer the vitamins and to educate the students on why its important to take them and to eat more foods with these nutrients. The program also meets with the parents, has activities for the children at school, and coordinates workshops with the health departments to promote the consumption of vitamin A and iron.
Getting to many of these schools can be arduous as they are in fairly remote areas and the staff uses public transportation to get there, an adventure in itself. I have been impressed by the comittment that the two managers (Sibia and Crispin) and the one coordinator (Ccoya) have to the project. Each day this week we have worked from about 7:30 am till about 7 pm. Needless to say I have been exhausted! BUT, it has been incredible to go into these schools and meet with the teachers, principles and students!

Everyone (from the staff at Save the Children to those living in my house here) has been so, so incredibly wonderful. The people here in general seem a bit skeptical of foreigners, but once a connection is made, they warm up really quickly and then take personal responsibility to make sure you are taken care of. I have seen very few non Latinos and I have not met anyone else from the United States (except the Executive Director of Save). Its kinda fun cause people seem to think I am interesting =).

I am living in a house with several other folks who are also here volunteering or doing internships. They are mostly from Europe (Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, etc.). I think the owner said I am the first American. It is super nice and cheap and I am enjoying the company there. I washed my clothes by hand today. Despite the time and labor, there was something so satisfying about washing my clothes by hand. You should try it!

That´s all I have for now. I will try to be a bit more witty and interesting next time. Thanks for reading!