Below is a partial list of materials and tools that would be helpful. As I come upon other needs, I will add to the list:

Roughly, $1 is equal to 7 Bolivianos

All purpose screws: 3 per 1 Bolivianos

All purpose nails: 3 per 1 Bolivianos

PVC Pipe threader: 25 Bolivianos, different sizes available for slightly different costs.

Hammer: 75 Bolivianos

All purpose saw: 50 Bolivianos

Non electric Hand drill: 45 Bolivianos

Bits for drill: 15-50 Bolivianos depending on selection

Electric tools

Circular saw: 380 Bolivianos

Drill, Corded: 170 Bolivianos

Drill, Cordless: 370 Bolivianos

Bits for drill: 15-50 Bolivianos depending on selection

I thank God each day for all of you in our lives.

Peace,

Jeff

Imagine, if you will, the cost of doing business for 650 students. Providing for 50 students more wouldn't require much of an increase in supplies. Now imagine planning for 700 students, but losing funding of 50 scholarships, for a loss of $100,000. That is what happened to the UAC when Bolivian President Evo Morales, kicked USAID out of Bolivia earlier this year. USAID provided the funds to cover those 50 scholarships, plus funding for other projects including building dormitories, and other building projects, as well as the supplies to maintain those projects and buildings. The financial hardship spreads to other areas as well. Next semester, the English department has to cut their monthly contribution to the room and board of the 4 volunteer teachers to $25, down from $50. This may not seem like much, but for our family that is a week’s worth of groceries. When you depend on funds from donors for your survival, personally and institutionally, losing a major funding source like USAID is painful. Please pray that our two governments can find a way to get along. The people of Bolivia need places like the UAC to help themselves. It’s true what they say, that if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. (Unless you fish like Delaney… J)

On the bright side, the students are doing very well. Smiles and “Hola”s are always fruitful walking around campus. My plan to blend in hasn't gone too well. When you are my size, that doesn't happen! Bus drivers, cabbies, even the newspaper guy in Coroico wave and beep horns or shout “Buenos dias!” For this, and so many other things, I am thankful. Friends, family, brothers in arms, even friends I have yet to meet, you are in my thoughts and prayers.

From the 3 of us to everyone out there, Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

Jeff

Someone mentioned to us (Susan, Delaney, and me), that we have been posting “having fun, wish you were here” blogs and not explaining the needs and conditions here. The needs of these people are great still. The help is still necessary. Susan, Delaney, and I are more of a “make the most of it” kind of people, we apologize for glossing over some of the more unpleasant details. On the maintenance front, jobs are too numerous to mention. Each job that comes up has to wait for supplies. For example, the most recent task I was given required a bag of plaster, or “estucco.” A bag of plaster costs 28 Bolivianos, or about $4. I ended up waiting for 3 weeks for a bag of plaster. Normally, I would have just gone and purchased this, but we are not being paid to be here. We still have our “normal bills” at home, so we end up short at the end of each month, stretching our food budget until rice and beans look like gourmet food. I end up buying most of the tools that I use for the different projects. I will leave these tools when I am done here, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t more tools that are needed. Supplies are needed, skilled labor is needed, and tools are needed. In short, we are needed.

Earlier today, a friend of mine asked how she could come and do what we are doing. She wondered how hard it was to get down here, so I told her. The process of being accepted as a volunteer is not hard; the visa process is not hard. What is hard is leaving behind technology. Leaving behind reliable power/internet/phone service, easy access to convenience food… in short, our way of life. I have been off the Internet quite a bit recently due to computer issues, so I have been “cut off”. Little things, like finding peanut butter, become a success. Taking CD players apart, and making 1 working one from 3 broken ones, become a success. Finding a decently made tool, for a reasonable price, becomes a success. Having a friend ask how he/she can help becomes a success. Finding a teacher for the UAC is a HUGE success, and an even bigger success is finding the $50 a month to pay the room/board for that teacher(hint, hint). Next semester, every English teacher will have to fund half of their salary themselves($25), because the funding just isn't there right now. Now $25 a month doesn't sound like much, but consider the fact that that teacher is already here volunteering, not back home with a steady paycheck. The UAC can’t afford to pay $200 a month for four teachers, that’s the unfortunate downside to having four volunteers willing to teach. But thank God there will be four – there is certainly a need for them. For the first time, the UAC will be able to offer an English 3 class for students not in the Tourism program. J

I apologize for making things sound better off than they are here. For those that know me personally, you probably expected this. From here on out, I will try to temper my updates and mix the needs and the enjoyment of doing good works. No matter how hard things might get here, I wouldn’t change a thing. Seeing Delaney blossom in her library is worth all of the dental problems. Seeing Susan’s students respond to her teaching is worth all of the walking. Seeing plants appear slowly in my “gutter planter“ project makes up for the sweat and blood my many projects have cost me.

Next blog, I will try to list some tools that I could use here, and their prices. That way, if you feel moved by the spirit, you can donate to specific tools. For example, a manually operated hand drill (looks like an old fashioned hand crank egg beater) runs about $8. Many times my jobs don’t include power, so this would be helpful.

On a lighter note, we have spotted more unique wildlife this last week. Susan spotted a Capuchin Monkey at the local market, along with a Toucan bird in the wild, and I have spotted a large Spider Monkey in the wild as well as an Avocado tree!

I wish you all God’s Peace in this holiday season. It doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving yet, and there won’t be a tv on with football at the guest house while we gather to eat our meal on the 30th. Be thankful for what you have, be generous to strangers and friends alike. Cause someone to smile, without expecting anything in return. Smile at people you pass on the sidewalk, and always give thanks.

Bendicion!

Jeff

Baseball and other ruminations...

Hi everyone!
      I missed you all last time. We have been having so much fun in English class, though. Our Halloween party was a roaring success, and next comes the baseball game this week. I am really looking forward to this, and so are many of my students. It is a shame we have to hold it while so many others are in class, otherwise, I think we would have the whole campus there! We hunted and hunted for a ball, since they don't play baseball or softball here at all. We have found some wiffle ball style ones that will do the trick. Jeff came up with the idea of re-purposing a piece of PVC pipe for the bat -- turns out it is just the right size and weight for wiffle balls - and no gloves needed. I will try to get some pictures posted next weekend, depending on how fast the Internet connection is (sometimes I have to wait until our infrequent visits to La Paz to upload photos because the connection here is so slow the upload times out).
     We are official now -- we finally have our national ID cards, so we can stop carrying our passports everywhere. This is a relief because the ID cards are MUCH easier to replace if something happens to them.
     The weather has been so beautiful this week -- it is definitely getting to be summer. Every day has been warm and sunny, and the evenings are pleasantly cool (thanks Uchumachi!). We have been thinking of doing some stargazing, since we have no idea what we are looking at in the night sky here. Jeff found a great piece of software to download, but we haven't tried it yet. I'm hoping it will be clear again Sunday evening and we can go take a look then. In the meantime, six days of dry weather means the road to Coroico is MUCH better, which was nice for market day today. Most of the washouts are dry now and so you don't have to get all muddy everywhere you go. It's nice. We will be hanging all our bedding on the line tomorrow to freshen it (provided it doesn't rain!), the only downside to that is that the dust from the road has to be shaken out before we bring it all in. Can't win 'em all, I guess.
     Speaking of market day today, I saw an interesting sight this morning in Coroico -- a woman with a pet capuchin monkey on a harness, sitting on her shoulder prim as you please! It was quite a sight, and unusual enough around here that it wasn't just me staring in fascination -- I looked around and saw many of the Bolivians surrounding me were staring as well. It was a pretty cool thing to see.
     I know the holiday season is rapidly approaching, but it is kind of surreal to think about it here, with summer weather and NO MARKETING. It is quite nice that it is mid-November and no one is really even talking about Christmas. I think I like it, but I haven't decided yet. Stay tuned! Speaking of the holidays, I will make a shameless plug for donations. If you are considering making a charitable gift this year, please consider either the Carmen Pampa Fund, which directly funds scholarships and food for students here at the college, or our Bolivia Fund at St. Andrew's. Those funds go to support the three of us during our year here, including class supplies like markers, posters and baseballs. Thanks so much for thinking of us here in the sunny Southern Hemisphere, and may God's peace be with you~
     Susan

New pictures posted

Click on these links to see some new pictures:

Casa Padre Bertram

Delaney and the Children's Library

Hello all!
Susan isn't feeling well, so I get to control this weeks post!
This past week was interesting. Halloween came and Susan and Delaney shared some of our traditions. First, they both dressed in costume. Susan went as a witch, tall black hat, broom, and thanks to Cookie, a black cat! Delaney went as a pirate. Everyone agreed with me that she should have had an eye patch, but she refused. I did get to tell my pirate joke. I enjoy telling it, so: What is a pirate's favorite letter? You might think it would be Arrrrrrrr, but it's the sea! Ok, all groans aside, the students really enjoyed the whole experience. They even got treats. Delaney made Banana bread, and they each got some. They listened to many halloweenish songs including Thriller, Monster Mash, the theme from Jaws, I put a spell on you, etc. A good time was had by all! Susan will post the pictures tomorrow night when we are in La Paz to pick up our visas! Yeah!!!

Delaney is doing well in school, and in working around the campus. She is in great demand from all of the kids for the library. I have had kids come up to me in Coroico to ask when the library will be open. Kids from other communities are aware that the library is open, and word is spreading. Delaney is even checking books out to children for their parents to read. Literacy is a beautiful thing!

Well enough for now, but know that each and every one of you is in our prayers, as we hope that we are in yours!

La paz,

Jeff