Welcome Back...to me

Well I have returned to Bolivia after a two week visit in the States. It was a wonderful visit once I actually got there but I am glad to be back. During this visit I was encouraged (harassed?...no just encouraged) by my aunts to refocus my blogging efforts. You have Susan and Denise to thank. I thought it best to do a little recap for those that might be new to the blog or to clear up some confusions that I encountered while I was at home.

I am a lay missioner with the Franciscan Mission Service. I live in community with three (soon to be four) other women that are in my organization and we also have two married couples, one living in Cochabamba and the other living many hours away in a little town that is closer to La Paz than anything else. Though I am a sponsored by the Franciscans I spend my days with a German NGO (non-governmental organization) in a little settlement called Mineros San Juan about 6 miles outside of the city of Cochabamba. The NGO serves this impoverished neighborhood in a variety of ways. There is a daycare for children ages two to five, a medical post offering cheap and free basic medical and prenatal care, and a K-8 school that just opened for it's first class this February. The school also houses a night school for adults that also started this past February. There are plans to build a middle school, high school, and technical school. In addition to these programs there is also a women's group called Tantakuna (a quechua word meaning "united") I volunteer with this group.

Tankakuna consists of many different areas; a bakery, an artisan group, computer classes, and developmental workshops. I spend mornings, and sometimes afternoons depending on the schedule, in the bakery working closely with four women that rotate throughout the week. I help them with anything from washing dishes to rolling out dough and manning the oven to the accounting. Additionally, I teach an ever expanding computer class Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Due to the demand, I think I will also be adding Wednesday afternoon. Friday afternoons are the artisan group where my only real purpose is to write up the minutes of the meeting. We participate in craft fairs as an opportunity for the women to sell their wares and are also trying to establish international markets. For the new year we are working on revamping the developmental workshops to better serve and benefit the women. More to follow on that I suppose.

I am very excited and committed to my work in Mineros and specifically with the women of Tantakuna. I have about 21 months left on my contract and I feel in some ways like I am just scratching the surface. I love this country and most importantly the people that inhabit it and I look forward to reporting to you with more vigor and frequency about what I am doing and my reflections on that work. Feel free to ask me questions or else suffer my scattered ramblings. Thanks for reading and I leave you with a picture of the women from the bakery and myself. I invited them to my house for a special Christmas lunch.