My time in Bolivia was a mixture of learning, new experiences, on-the-ground project work, and, of course, amazing food. Each day began with work at CEOLI, an educational center for students with a wide range of disabilities, primarily those with Down syndrome. From the first day we were there, we were greeted with friendly smiles and a refreshing openness and joy that I will never forget. Our team of 8 would split up into groups of two, and each group would work with the different age groups alongside the caregivers at CEOLI. After that came lunch, and I’ll tell you personally, the food was amazing. Each day, we were able to go to a new Bolivian buffet with a wide range of meats, vegetables, and starches, which were genuinely amazing. After lunch, we would normally visit a new site or historic place in Cochabamba, which included the town square, an Inca site, a local university visit, etc. After the site visits, we would be given a mixture of presentations about the history of the country, the current political and economic standings of the nation, and even a talk with a local business owner.
Our wide range of experiences was so important in not only creating valuable connections but also experiencing the beautiful culture and people of Cochabamba. In my time at CEOLI, I was so blessed to be able to work with such a wide range of skilled and dedicated therapists, as well as so many wonderful and joyful children. Personally, I made a deep connection with a little boy, Nacho, and being able to enjoy my time with him throughout the week, and building that bond was an invaluable experience that I will never forget. Being able to learn about the history of the country as well as the current situation helped me to better understand the way of life there, as well as the way things are run. Also, being able to better understand certain factors as a result of Bolivia’s poor economic standing proved to be a very valuable learning point.
The most valuable learning experience, in my opinion, was being able to speak with the Bolivian students at the local university. Despite the language barrier and how nervous I was to have to speak with the students alone, it proved to be my favorite part of the entire trip. Realizing that despite living in different countries and having such different lives, we shared so many similarities was both an eye-opening and a refreshing experience.
In terms of my expectations for the trip, personally, I had way more fun and enjoyed the trip a lot more than I thought I would. I think I had a misconception of what our time there would be like, and I was so pleasantly surprised to have almost all of my expectations exceeded heavily. The main thing that surprised me the most, though, was just how quiet and peaceful the area was. When I traveled to the Dominican Republic for a service trip quite similar to the global service learning, we stayed in a hotel very similar to the Hotel Diamond, however the area we stayed in was quite loud and active. By the time it hit 9pm, it almost seemed like the entire area was all asleep. It was so quiet and peaceful, and the only noises we would ever hear were the dogs barking through the night. That was definitely a pleasant surprise as we embarked on multiple night walks which I found to be so extremely peaceful. Second, I knew that we were going to be staying in a beautiful area with a lot of mountains, but nothing could truly prepare me for the natural beauty of Cochabamba. In every direction you looked, we were able to see an absolutely breathtaking view, and that is something I will both never forget, and am also heavily missing right now. The weather was also just perfect, it was a mixture of 60-70s, and it made the experience all the more pleasant.
In terms of challenges, I think that the language barrier was the main issue. Especially as we were trying to ask the caretakers questions for our presentation with Ron, the language barrier proved to be very difficult in trying not to take away their focus from the kids, as we either had to use a translator app or have them type the answers in our phones. Also, the one-to-one system, which they utilized to maximize care for the students, made it hard for us to ask them questions because we didn’t want to take away from their main focus or make them feel uncomfortable. Another challenge was definitely the travel. The four different flights with three layovers definitely affected the team’s well-being. I was lucky enough to feel fine, but other members of the team were definitely not as fortunate. Fatigue was also definitely a factor, as during the day we were constantly going and working, which left a lot of us feeling exhausted at the end of the day. Overall though I think we did well as a team to maintain focus and to encourage one another to maintain our focus and to stay on top of our work. I would definitely say our team bonded to an extent even more than I had originally imagined.
In terms of what reading I feel proved to be the most relevant was the community service vs global service learning reading because I have done a large amount of community service, but I have never felt the impact to the extent that global service learning has had on me. Actively learning and practicing valuable skills and then putting them into practice has proven to be such a great learning experience.
All in all, I just want to conclude by saying how grateful I am for this program and my team, as this was a life-changing experience that I will never forget. Being given the chance to explore Bolivia and to work with CEOLI was so much fun and very fulfilling as well.