Replacing Cow Dung with Solar Energy!

Imagine it is time to cook a meal for your family and you don’t have a stove, oven, or even a microwave. What you do have is a small, smoky fire pit in your house, fueled by cow dung which you have to collect yourself. How would this affect your ability to cook a meal? This is how villagers in Bolivia cook their meals every day.

Recently CHOICE Humanitarian teamed up with the villages of Tuni, Challapata and Wayraconi to provide an efficient alternative for cooking meals - solar ovens. During a four day workshop facilitated by the CHOICE staff Fèlix, Germàn and Julio, the communities learned how to build and use their new ovens.

The villagers were very excited about this opportunity, and eager to show their dedication to the project by contributing the necessary funds to purchase the supplies themselves. These solar ovens can roast peanuts, cook potatoes, corn, quinoa (a grain), breads, cakes, and even pizza without the use of fuel.

Maxi, CHOICE staff in Bolivia says, “These ovens are great because solar rays are free and they make very healthy food because there is no loss of nutrients.” Unfortunately these ovens do not work when it rains or in the early hours of the morning before the sun rises, but as long as the sun is shining, the ovens are in constant use.

Because of your support CHOICE Humanitarian trainings, just like this one, are happening all over Bolivia, providing the necessary skills to help these communities find solutions to their own poverty. Thank you!

Because Water Is Life

Water pump in Bolivia.

Today, 1.1 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water. 1.1 Billion! It is a staggering and sobering number but thanks to your support this number is getting smaller. Recently the small village of Coniri Uncasuca, Bolivia approached CHOICE Humanitarian to help them with a water system. This village has seen how access to water has changed nearby communities and they are ready to do whatever it takes to bring clean drinking water to their village. Currently they carry water from a mossy spring multiple times a day. It is a time consuming chore and the open spring is susceptible to pollution that causes illness, especially in children.

Coniri Uncasuca's water spring.

The village leader, Erasmo Ticona Jilir Mallku, said, "We are seeking support to help make our dream of clean water come true because water is life and very important to the growth and development of our community."

Erasmo Ticona Jilir Mallku

Because of your support, planning for this project is already under way. Water projects like this one are happening all over Bolivia. In a few weeks a CHOICE expedition will be traveling to the village of Pomamaya to work on a similar water project. Not only do these projects provide access to a vital resource, they build on the community's leadership and ability to make future dreams come true. Thank you so much for your ongoing support. It does make a difference.

Bolivia: The New Center of Fashion?

In Bolivia, the people of Hichuraya and Muramaya are proving that they can lift themselves out of poverty with their own two hands. A few weeks ago, we bragged about their new skills of dying wool to weave into shawls and blankets that are now being sold in Italy!

Willy and Maxi, CHOICE Humanitarian In-Country Directors of Bolivia, have been working extremely hard to provide the needed training and equipment to get this business rolling. The villagers are now learning how to knit, including 60-year-old Antonio.

Due to painful hip problems, this father of five struggles even to walk. But, in the comfort of a chair, he has learned to wield five needles at a time to knit gloves. He's optimistic that he can better support his family now.

Antonio with his knitting needles.

Marisol Condori is 10-years old: "In my family, there are six children. I am the oldest. Today, I am helping my mother look after the baby because she is learning to knit gloves."Her mother is taking lessons at the craft school built and run by CHOICE Humanitarian.

Marisol (right) with her mother (center).

The staff of CHOICE Bolivia have also helped secure loans for these villagers, allowing them to dye more wool, make more yarn, and knit more gloves for their Italian buyer. "We are all encouraged because we can make some more money for our family," Marisol says. "Many times my brothers are hungry because we cannot afford to buy a loaf of bread. Then we are happy because if my mother knits, we have money. I also want to learn to knit and help my family."

Thanks to all those who support CHOICE Humanitarian. To learn how you can help, please visit CHOICEHumanitarian.org

Digging for their lives.

Those of you who have been to the Altiplano region in Bolivia know what a difficult task it is to dig miles of trenches in the rocky Bolivian soil for a water system. It is slow, tedious, back-breaking work; hour after hour, mile after mile, day after day. It could take a community up to 6 months to reach a water source 5 miles away.

Digging trenches in Bolivia: photo by Wade Alexander

Thanks to the support of Deseret Health, these communities will have another option. A trencher has been purchased which will provide an alternative method to completing this time consuming task. It will save months of labor and free up the community to work in their fields, take care of their families and complete their long list of daily chores.

CHOICE Humanitarian will maintain the equipment and create a structure by which to build a fund for on-going maintenance and fuel.

Chris Johnson, Program Director for CHOICE, said, “This trencher will bring clean drinking water to all communities of the Altiplano at an accelerated rate. This means better health for the communities and particularly a dramatic reduction in childhood illness and death.”
Thank you Deseret Health for providing support and tools to build a better future for our friends in Bolivia.

What does it take to get water to a small village in Bolivia?

Expeditioners and villagers working together on the water system.

With shovels in hand, we left the village of Huancuyo, Bolivia early in the morning and headed up the mountains. Three miles and two hours later, into the thinning air, we reached our destination - the water source and the starting point of our project. As we panted for air it was hard to believe that the villagers had to take this trek everyday to collect water once their wells dried up for the season.

The village water project was the focus of this CHOICE expedition. We were assigned to fill the trench that community had dug on their own prior to our arrival. Native families of Huancuyo had committed months to the back-breaking labor required to dig a water trench 2 feet deep and 3 miles long into the Andean mountainside.

As we looked at the long trench meandering down the mountain before us, we KNEW that we would NEVER finish filling this trench in just one week! Right?

As village men placed meter upon meter of PVC pipe into the trench, we worked hard right behind them in shoveling large stones and piles of dirt into the open ground. But, we were not alone in our labors. Village men and women - and even small children - utilized handmade shovels to cover the pipe with dirt. Believe it or not, we couldn't keep up with the pace of determined village women who would take our shovels if we were not working fast enough.

To the collective shock of our expedition group, the entire trench was filled and completed in just three and a half days! I was speechless. The project was completed due to the collaborative efforts of both sides...laboring together in an inter-cultural exchange of work ethic and mutual support. I learned that this is the essence of a true CHOICE expedition.

Now that the trench had been filled, it was time to connect the pipe to the schoolhouse spigot. This was to be the site of the official inauguration of the water project...a moment that would celebrate the arrival of potable water to the village of Huancuyo for the first time. 

Tyler (left) and Wade (right) celebrating the arrival of water with the community.

We had underestimated the importance of such a celebration. Village women wore their finest - and most vibrant Bolivian attire, spinning and twirling in a cultural dance that often included our own volunteers! Village leaders gave messages of gratitude, shedding tears for the simple gift of water. A gift Leavitt Group employees helped to provide through generous donations. And village children, waiting in anticipation, partook of the feast that was placed before them: a complete spread of 15 different potatoes and sauces. 

These dear people had waited such a long time for this sacred occasion - to have drinkable water near their homes. The excitement was overwhelming as toddlers splashed in the running water that poured from the spigot. Joy was evident in the weathered faces of village elders, worn and cracked as a result of the brisk Altiplano air. I could not help but admire such wonderful people. Thaks to all whgo support this work. With your help, this community now has water. You are truly changing the lives of these people.

-Wade Alexander