Community center

Last year in Cochabamba, our students worked collaboratively with local residents of an urban barrio to begin construction on a community center. They worked in the dirt every Sunday for six weeks, digging the trenches and laying the foundation for what they hoped would some day be a functional building where community residents could hold meetings, activities and events. The idea of a finished project, though, seemed like a distant dream.

Yesterday, my colleague Ruth sent me this picture of the community center, which now is an actual building! Following our departure, community members used the remainder of project funds to continue construction. Now the building has walls, a floor and a roof. It still lacks doors, windows, finishing work and landscaping - all projects that our students will undertake this summer. By the time we leave in August, we hope to be able to inaugurate the completed community center.