Volunteer Blog

Transportation the Bolivian Way

I arrived in Villa Tunari with plans to spend two weeks volunteering at the Park Machia animal park. Life is funny sometimes. It had other plans for me. The first day I arrived in Villa I checked out the project and was pretty set on putting my animal biology diploma to use. A phone call, however, shattered these plans when I learned that a dear friend had passed away suddenly. I was devastated. I took to hibernating in my hostel room alone. I felt lost and alone.  I hated the world and God for taking my friend and in the throws of grief I lost any ambition to join a volunteer program here in the Chapare. 

A bowl of chocolate ice cream and a loud Texan changed everything for me. Michael, the founder of Angels of Hope, introduced me to a new project and to possibilities in community development, an area I had never ventured. Without coaxing I gingerly got my feet wet by painting some signs for the foundation gates.

It’s now been two months and I’ve taken on a challenging project to provide impoverished communities with access to clean drinking water. I’ve spent three days using a water analysis kit borrowed by the University of Cochabamba to test the quality of water running into the Angels of Hope School as well as the volunteer house and other sources such as springs and wells. I’ve followed water through waterfalls in the tropical jungle seeing fantastic animals along the way. The research has been both rewarding and amazing for the views alone and my hope to experience a new environment and interact with the wildlife has certainly been satisfied.

Every day at the project is full of surprises. Every day is also challenging and I’m filled with ambition and hope every time I open my eyes in the morning. I called Michael from Cochabamba the other day and told him that “I was coming home" on the late bus. It surprised me only for a second to have said home, but truly the Castillo has become a home for me. There is a genuine and powerful sense of community here that binds the volunteers and locals together. The locals share their bold, vibrant and truly unique sense of culture and the volunteers have embraced and respected this culture. 

My time here has healed me of my grief and I feel renewed. The decision to stay with the project for at least a year was easy for me. God put me here for a reason and I wouldn’t give up this opportunity for anything, even a lifetime supply of “Puma´s” chocolate ice cream. Well maybe................... :) 

Jocelyn Anderson

Vancouver, Canada 

Hiking through the Jungle

I have been here only a few weeks but it feels like much longer due to the range of activities I have done ( and have on my to do list.)  The insights I have had into genuine and the sense of the Community has developed with the volunteer and stuff of the foundation.  

I started off spending time in the school, helping out in the kitchen, in the classrooms and keeping order on the school bus in quite an unforgettable journey.  I’ve also been to visit people’s homes giving out school materials and to a market (completely off the gringo trail) for supplies.  

The Castillo is being made into a comfortable place to live for the volunteers; the communal cooking has been particularly successful in the well equipped if slightly out ridden kitchen.  The Castillo has also been the venue for a baptism and a 15^th birthday party (a very big party here in Latin America ) and film nights are starting soon which results in more interaction with the community.

Whether its community parties or nights out down at the karaoke discoteca we have made time for unwinding and fun and friendship.

Kathryn

Manchester, England

Freckles and a Pirate for Dia Del Niños

Working at the foundation was an amazing experience for us.  As first grade classroom assistants, we had direct contact and interaction with the beneficiaries of the foundation.  They love school and love it even more when they had one-to-one attention that they need.  These kids are so easy to please; a new pencil can make a day.  From a health perspective, its great to see these kids receiving three meals a day as well as regular health and dental check-ups.  

Life at the Castillo is fantastic living with the other volunteers is great fun and Spanish lessons are fantastic.  Come along and give us a hand and bring plenty of bug spray and expect regular bouts of diarrhea, attacks from bed bugs, and parasites.

Liz and Liam

Cork, Ireland