FH Bolivia: Join me in praying
The next Kingdom assignment God has set before me is BOLIVIA. I’ll be serving in Bolivia on behalf of Food for the Hungry from August 7-14 during which time I’ll speak on 14 different occasions to groups ranging from small children (6-10 yrs old), teens, women, pastors, and FH staff to radio and TV interviews and meetings with government officials and a church service. It will be an intense time of teaching at altitudes ranging from 9,000 to 12,000 ft. Pray I will soar at these heights and that altitude will be a non-issue.
You can learn more about Food for the Hungry’s work in Bolivia and how YOU can get involved through child sponsorship at FH Bolivia’s website.
History of Food for the Hungry in Bolivia:
FH began operations in Bolivia in 1978 with a Child Sponsorship Program employing a staff of less than ten people. In 1983, when Bolivia was among the countries affected by the “El Niño” drought, FH was one of the organizations asked to participate in the relief efforts. Today, FH has several programs and a staff size of more than 180 people.
Currently, FH reaches more than 250 communities in some of the poorest and most food-insecure rural areas of Bolivia. We work to help communities counter the multidimensional causes and manifestations of poverty by enhancing their quality of life.
FH’s work is done in a number of zones based out of the two regional offices in Sucre and Cochabamba city. These teams are made up of individuals drawn together towards a common goal: to transform the realities of whole communities “… until physical and spiritual hungers ended worldwide”. Team members live twenty days in the communities each month, and most speak the local languages of Quechua or Aymara. Programs are not seen as an end in themselves but as a means—a vehicle through which participant community members learn to devise solutions and orchestrate activities that benefit the community.
Enjoy this cute interview with the couple, Joel and Celeste Mercado, who helped arrange this trip and who will be my hosts in La Paz:
Broad Scope of FH Bolivia’s Work – So much more than Child Sponsorship
One of FHI/Bolivia’s key goals has been to increase food security among the most vulnerable rural populations in the altiplano and high valley regions, where eight out of ten persons live below the poverty line. The remoteness of such rural communities, as well as the harsh climate and high altitudes associated with the altiplano and high valley regions, help contribute to food insecurity. FHI Bolivia uses a variety of interventions realized within two specific programs: the Income Generation Program and the Natural Resource Management Program to bring appropriate knowledge and resources to communities so that they are able to increase agricultural production, improve animal husbandry, and protect natural resources, thus improving their income base.
In terms of health, FHI/Bolivia’s Integrated Health Program achieved a significant decrease in the rate of child chronic malnutrition in the target communities, from 59% in 2002 to 40% in 2004. This 19% decrease over a two and a half year period is a significant accomplishment that has not been documented to date in Bolivia. It owes much to the integrated fashion in which activities were conducted with other programs, as well as to the focus on positive deviation and the changing of participants’ attitudes, habits, and behaviors that are inimical to the caring and feeding of children.
FHI/Bolivia is also working to improve water resources and sanitation. The departments in which FHI/Bolivia works are estimated to have the highest percentages of population without access to water and/or basic sanitation. In these areas FHI/Bolivia operates its Health, Water and Sanitation Program, which works to improve child survival and maternal health through preventive measures and training in improved health, sanitary, and nutrition practices.
FHI/Bolivia has a Child Development Program which brings a variety of child and family-oriented services to communities in impoverished regions in the Cochabamba, Chuquisaca, and Potosí Departments. Through the CDP children and their families have benefited from various health, educational, and community development projects. The goal of the CDP is to see children reach their full potential. For this to happen, CDP staff work with children, teachers, parents, and community leaders in order to transform realities at the community level.
Finally, a new civil society initiative works to support the creation of an organized local democratic leadership in rural Bolivia, a leadership that is able to identify and address their communities’ shared problems and engage effectively in local government processes that directly affect their development.
In all areas and all projects, FHI/Bolivia believes that real, lasting change comes only when individuals make their own decision to adopt new behaviors. An individual’s decision to change will invariably create a ripple effect on the household and the community.
+ FACTS about Bolivia:
+Domestic violence is widespread and often unreported – and when it is reported, results in only a few days in jail and a small fine.
+ 800,000 children work in Bolivia, many on the streets.
+ 3) The highest natural lake in the world, Lake Titicaca, is in Bolivia. And the capitol city of La Paz, Bolivia is the capitol of the highest altitude in the world.
+ 4) Bolivia is South America’s most indigenous country, with over 60% of the population claiming indigenous heritage, including Aymará, Quechua, Guaraní and over 30 other ethnic groups.
+ 5) Bolivia boasts the beauty of the Andes Mountain range, the high altitude Altiplano plateau, the highlands and the lowl ying areas surrounding the Amazon Basin.
+ Facts From: UNICEF, Lonely Planet
