Things to think about

At the beginning of a great adventure, it is important to ask yourself a few questions. Why am I doing this? What are my expectations? What do I hope to get from this experience? You may not know the answers to these questions, but thinking about them can help prepare you for what lies ahead. The important thing is to be alert to the new things you are about to discover, many of which will be entirely unanticipated.

Over the years I have been amazed by the many students who have told me that the Bolivian program was a life-changing experience. They describe discovering aspects of themselves that they had not previously imagined, dimensions of who they are that somehow being far from home, in a strange and different place, brought into consciousness. It's like walking into your house, a place you think you know perfectly well, and finding that there are whole new rooms there that you didn't even know existed, and are there for you to explore. Others describe the thrill of meeting new challenges, and how this led them to discover previous unknown capacities in themselves. These experiences range from the dramatic to the mundane - from hiking up incredibly steep hills and squeezing through tiny spaces in underground caverns, to simply speaking a foreign language in daily encounters.

The point is that there are so many things we don't know about ourselves, which we can discover when we put ourselves in new and challenging situations. It is easier to stay at home, in comfort and safety, where our assumptions will go unquestioned and our worldviews will remain unchanged. This is a comfortable way to live, and it is not surprising that most people choose to live this way. But for those of you willing to put yourselves out there and challenge yourselves, the potential for growth and discovery is limitless.

It is sometimes said that, "wherever you go, there you are." And indeed, we can't escape ourselves by traveling to faraway places, for we inevitably take our baggage, emotional and otherwise, with us wherever we go. But there is also the possibility that the "you" you find in that other place may be different from the one you thought you knew. And that can make all the difference.

Packing List

"Pack light" is my mantra for going to Bolivia. Try to keep it to one bag, under 50 lbs. to avoid the overweight fees that the airlines will charge you. Here are some tips to help you along.

For those of you who have never been to Bolivia before, you may be surprised by the number of things you can buy there that are familiar from shopping in North American stores. You can get your Old Spice deoderant, for example, your Head and Shoulders and Crest Super Whitening. So when packing for Bolivia, don't feel you have to bring jumbo sizes of every product you might need.

It's also very easy, and cheap, to buy clothes. If you've ever donated anything to Goodwill, maybe dropped your old jeans in one of those big metal boxes in the supermarket parking lot, thinking they would be given to some poor homeless person, think agin. Your jeans were bundled with thousands of other pieces of donated clothing and sold in bulk to international clothing vendors, who in turn sold them to distributors in various countries around the world. They were then bought by local dealers who, in Bolivia, sell them in stores and market stalls. So if you find yourself in need of clothing, you may be able to buy back your old jeans while you're there.

You will also see people wearing t-shirts with English-language logos, having no idea what their shirts say. I once stopped a guy in the street who was wearing a Rutgers t-shirt, but he had no affiliation to Rutgers and thought I was kind of crazy for stopping him.

Here are the top five items that you should buy, which may be harder to find in Bolivia. Some of these things may indeed be available there, but they are things you want to have immediately upon arrival.

5. Hat - It is extremely sunny in Bolivia, and you should bring a broad-brimmed hat to protect yourself from the sun's rays. You can of course buy hats in Bolivia (see image), but some of these are less useful than others for sun protection. Along these same lines, get yourself some...

4. Sunscreen - You will want to slather yourself with this whenever you go out.

3. Reading material - Finding good books in English is almost impossible in Bolivia. Bring along a few good novels, to while away an evening, time spent in travel, and so on. If you are not in the habit of reading for pleasure, this is a good time to start.

2. Shoes - Of course you can buy shoes in Bolivia. But Bolivian shoes are stiff, uncomfortable, and tend to be kind of dressy. Bring comfortable, sturdy walking shoes. You will need them.

1. Imodium - I don't really need to explain this one, do I? Remember, don't drink the water. And don't eat the lettuce.

This year for the first time, our students will be doing service work directly through a project run by a non-governmental organization that I helped to found in 2007, and which has helped to run the summer program each of the past two years. The group is now operating two human rights and access-to-justice centers in two Cochabamba neighborhoods. The project aims to teach barrio residents about human rights, provides counseling and legal services, offers training in non-violent conflict resolution, and helps to create new understanding and opportunities in the barrios.

The project will be the site of our students' community service and anthropological research this summer. Students will be assigned to one of the two barrio sites, and will work with groups of men, women and children to design activities, prepare materials, and help lead workshops and trainings. At the same, the students themselves will learn alongside barrio residents about the nature of human rights and HR defense. Some students may work to develop curricula for teaching about HR in schools; others will help the trainers work with kids to discover the importance of non-violence through, somewhat paradoxically, martial arts; others will work with women's groups to help develop new income-generating opportunities.

Unlike past years, the students this year will work directly through an established an ongoing project. Whereas previously we developed stand-alone projects in which students engaged, this year the students will work with an established and ongoing project, which will give their work more lasting value and provide a framework within which they can learn about Bolivia, human rights, and so on. I expect it to be a very productive collaboration.

The Blog is Back

Welcome back to the Bolivia blog! As I have each summer since 2008, I will be keeping this blog so that those of you who can't come with us to Bolivia can keep track of what we are doing there. Please post your feedback to this site and share with us your responses.

It is June, and once again I am preparing to return to Bolivia with a group of Rutgers students. This will be the third consecutive year for the Bolivia-RU summer study abroad program, and I am again very excited about the program. We have 12 students again this summer, from a range of backgrounds, majors, and levels of international experience. It is a diverse group of men and women, all of whom seem excited to learn about Bolivian reality while contributing their knowledge and energy to helping transform the difficult situations that the people with whom we work regularly encounter.

Keep watching this space for updates. Departure day is June 30!

Saying goodbye

The last few days have been marked by several tearful farewells - at the orphanage, and with the women's and girls' groups with which our students have been working. Yesterday was our last day in Loma Pampa, which was also the anniversary of the barrio. We participated in the celebrations and activities of the day - our students participated in several relay races and events, and took home the prize in the egg toss and dance competitions. They also served cake to the entire community, and received certificates of recognition from the local leadership. The appreciation that everyone expressed for the work we have done in the community was very strong and moving.

Today, students begin the process of packing up and returning home. The program is officially over, with just a few loose ends to tie up. Everyone will be taking home incredible, lasting memories of what they have experienced here; no one, it is safe to say, will ever be the same as when they left home six weeks ago.

This will be my last blog entry of the season. Below are some photos of the last few days. See you again in June, 2010!

First despedida

The process of leaving Bolivia is marked by despedidas – goodbye parties. For us, these began yesterday, as the group that has been working with the women of Loma Pampa said goodbye to their friends in the barrio. The students had spent the morning preparing a meal of charque - dried llama meat - which they brought to Loma Pampa in the afternoon and served to the women assembled. The food was great, and the women so appreciative - our students and the leaders of the women's group all spoke movingly of their time together, and the women expressed their hope that the students would return some day. Our students should be extremely proud of themselves - they helped to found this women's group (and the girls' group, which has its despedida on Saturday), a space for women to get together, share their thoughts and feelings with one another, and learn to do crafts and other activities.

In the evening, another group of students attended a community meeting in Alto Cochabamba, another barrio where they have similarly been working with a group of women, helping them to learn how to bake bread and pastries. At this meeting, the students and our colleagues donated an oven to the community, which will be used by the women in their future activities. This was received by the women there with much joy and appreciation, as indicated by the confetti which they rubbed in everyone's hair. This group has its despedida tomorrow.

Learning to Cueca

Sunday in Loma Pampa was busy, as usual. This week we were accompanied by two British students, whom our group met up with during their trip to Torotoro, and whom they invited along to share the fun. They did their share, digging in the dirt to help level the ground for the metal awning (which hopefully will be installed this week), and hacking through dense rock to make the post holes to support the structure. I wondered why two people, backpacking through South America, would want to give up a perfectly good Sunday to sweat in the dirt of Loma Pampa. Aida thinks it's because we have such an amazing program, which offers opportunities unlike any other. People - young people, especially - from all over the world have the desire to help out, to do good for others, even for people they have never met before and will never meet again. Surprisingly, perhaps, the chance to do meaningful work of this kind can be hard to come by. Our program offers this opportunity, in a way that students feel the immediate impact of their contributions.

After classes with the children, don David's daughter-in-law invited our students to learn to dance the cueca, Cochabamba's traditional dance, and somehow convinced them to perform it at the anniversary celebration in Loma Pampa next Sunday.