In May of 2009, Olds College and A Better World (ABW) will take students and community members to Bolivia for two weeks. I will be leading this trip and in so doing will realize a dream five years in the making. After Katrina, Olds College and ABW partnered to send a group of students, staff and teachers to the USA to help rebuild homes. Each student returned with new insights into the world in which they live. I know by experience that a trip to Bolivia will have the same result but multiplied by 10! I know by experience that this will be a life-altering experience for some of the people in our group and still very impactful for the rest.
Mountains in Bolivia
I do have concerns and a little trepidation: all developing countries are unstable, all have unique health and cultural challenges, and all have safety issues (usually the traffic is the worst). I am encouraged by the fact that we have some very fine people in Bolivia to help. Marg and Jake Hoogland moved to Bolivia from Canada about three years ago; Zenon Flores is a local agriculture instructor with a passion for his field; and Maria Jose is the director of CERINID, a local home for street boys. And I hope that my experience in the country will prove beneficial as I lead the trip. I have been to Bolivia twice myself, and ABW has completed two very successful trips there in the last two years.
Jake and Marg Hoogland
This trip will focus on the state of agriculture in Bolivia, as well as helping to make CERINID more self sufficient in terms of food production. We will remain in the Santa Cruz area, but see developed farming areas, homesteading areas, mountains and jungle. We will be working on a local farm to help set up a dormitory that will be used to house students that will take agriculture apprenticeship training with Zenon Flores.
Zenon Flores and a Golden Aguoti Boar
So, here goes a new journey for me and a great opportunity for students and others in the community. Let’s hope this time I don’t need to use my GPS coordinates for the coffin store! Stay tuned for more details, and follow along on this blog in May to read about the adventure.
Gordon Gilchrist
Technical coordinator
A Better World
Instructor
Olds College
ggilchrist@oldscollege.ca
Blogs:
http://gordonatabw.blogspot.com/
http://gordatoldscollege.blogspot.com/
