It's fascinating
how adaptive we human beings are. How fast we're able to get used to a new life
and a new culture is as amazing as how fast we are able to forget all of it and
return to our daily lives back home. In the end, everything is just temporary. Every
moment, all the feelings, everything we experience will eventually pass and
make room for new experiences. Feelings that have been unbearable and things
that at one moment have felt hopeless, are gone the next. On the other hand
it's also emptying to notice how quickly your eyes have become used to
something that took your breath away the first time you saw it. You realize
that things that you had a hard time adapting to in the beginning slowly have
become a part of your everyday life, a part of you. Then there come's a moment
when you start wondering how you'll be able to adapt back to your normal life,
in a world that is so different from the one you've finally started to get used
to.
In Bolivia you can
never know for sure how your day is going to turn out. It sometimes feels like
every day is an adventure. Maybe a tree has fallen during the night and blocked
the road, or maybe there's a protest or roadblock that messes up the whole city
or at least your plans. Or maybe you get lost because the bus that particular
day chooses to drive a different route than normally. Or maybe a clown on the
rush hour bus entertains you!
It might take a
while to get used to never knowing what will happen next, but once you accept
it you start enjoying it. It's liberating to constantly let yourself be
surprised and enjoy the chaos around you. I guess when you have so much chaos
around you, you feel less chaotic yourself. At least I somehow just
couldn't get enough of all the absurd moments that spice up your day and leave
you with a "what just happened?" face. And believe me, we've had more
of those moments than we can count for.
It's two days
since we left Corazon Grande and we are now coming closer to the end of our
journey. Here we are now at the airport of Amsterdam, confused, amazed and
excited. It feels like I've been away from home for ages, in a world of it's
own, on another planet. Being here where everything is so familiar already
makes the world we are coming from feel so far away.
I want to thank
everyone who has encouraged and supported me to share this experience through
this blog, it has been fun and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. And at last
I want to mention Julia, who practically has been looking at my face 24/7 for
the past three months. And trust me I'm not always the easiest person to deal
with (and neither is Julia), but what matters is that we're returning home as
friends, and maybe a bit tipsy as we have had five hours to kill at the airport
haha :D
All in all this
has been an absurd, exciting and mind blowing experience, and even though there
still are so many things I can't understand about the world I've been a part of
for the past three months, Bolivia will always have a place in my heart. And I
can say for sure this is not the last Bolivia or South America has seen of me!
In the heart of Bolivia
A peek into Julia's and my adventures in Bolivia, as we as volunteer workers follow the everyday life at the girls home Corazón Grande for the next three months.
Tuesday 10 December 2013
Monday 2 December 2013
Escape to the white desert
On Thursday we jumped on the bus to Oruro which is a small city about 4-5 hours away from Cochabamba. We spent the night there and left towards Uyuni the next afternoon. For the first time we got to travel by train, and I have to say the seven hour ride was very dusty and bumpy at the same time as it provided us with breathtaking moments. Shortly after leaving Oruro the train goes through a lake which is a popular breeding place for the famous pink flamingos. The lake was so shallow that it looked like the flamingos were walking on the water. And when the train came closer to them the flamingos spread their wings and lifted towards the sky in huge flocks. The sight was amazing, but unfortunately impossible to catch on camera. Another very special creature we got to see during our trip was the vicuña. It is a relative of the llama and said to be the wild ancestor of alpacas. Our guide told us that as they only live in the wild and are endangered, they are protected both under the rule of Inca and the law and you get five years of prison for killing a vicuña.
Vicuña on the rails |
On the way to Oruro |
In Bolivia every road is a death road..... |
The train to Uyuni |
A poor try to take a picture of the flamingos...through the window of the train. |
Julia and our "matrimonial bed" |
Starting the tour |
Afterwards we also found out some facts about the Salar. Apparently more or less 30 000 to 40 000 years ago the area was a part of the prehistorical lake Minchin. About 15 000 to 10 000 years ago the lake started to diminish until only a few small lakes were left. When even the last of the water evaporated one thing led to another (it has something to do with limestone, rock salt and gypsum :D), and the bottom of the lake was formed to a few meter thick white layer - the Salar. Unfortunately I won't get any smarter within this matter so I'll just leave it there. I personally prefer the other "theory" about how the Salar was formed, and that is the love triangle between three people-mountains. The Ayamara legend tells that the mountains surrounding the Salar; Tunupa, Kusku and Kusina were giant people. Tunupa marriend Kusku, but Kusku ran away with Kusina. The grieving Tunupa cried while breast-feeding her son, and her tears that mixed with milk formed the Salar. Bujaa!
Salt in process... |
"Eyes of the salar" - water bubbling up to the surface from over a 150 meters depth. |
Necessary tourist-picture |
Lapsi on terve kun se leikkii. (Picture by Julia) |
Former hotel made of salt. It is reconstructed to a museum. |
Our guide preparing lunch at the desert. |
In the middle of the Salar |
Nowadays the area is said to have about 10 milliard tons of salt, and in addition to rock salt and gypsum the desert also contains more than half of the lithium resources in the world. There are also more than 30 small mountain islands at the Salar, which are the remains of volcanoes that submerged during the era of Lake Minchin. The most famous one is the Incahuasi island (also known as "Isla del pescado") which we visited during our trip at the Salar. The Island is covered with huge cactuses and the volcanic terrain gives a coral-like structure the rock-formations.
Incahuasi island |
FLAFS? :D |
Me hyping (picture by Julia) |
Llamas!! |
Llamas taking a walk... |
Train cemetery |
Killing time at a bar in Uyuni. (Picture by Julia) |
Early morning view from the train |
And back to Cochabamba... |
Wednesday 27 November 2013
Muchas gracias!
The moment you all have been waiting for is finally here; time to reveal how our fundraising-project turned out and how much money we raised!
Thanks to all of you who supported us our project has been a great success, much greater than we could expect. Within two weeks we got more than 40 donations from families, friends and acquaintances. In total we got 1943 euros worth of donations, which is about 18 200 bolivianos.
Since the beginning
it was clear that we would use 1000 euros (40€/girl) for one year worth of
school materials and school uniforms. We personally took part in the shopping,
at one of South Americas biggest markets, which is located here in Cochabamba. Shopping in Bolivia is always an adventure, as everything is located in different areas and it's not always so easy to find
what you are looking for. Oh how easy it would have been if all the parts for the school uniforms would have been in one place, instead of being spread around the market which practically covers the area of a small city. Buying the the school uniforms also became a little adventure itself as a couple of the girls from
the home joined us so they could give their opinions and help us to pick the right sizes.
Next on our shopping list became kitchen supplies. Various problems which make eating interesting, so as eating chicken wings with a spoon or having the ketchup running to the table through the plate, made the decision to invest in new kitchen supplies easy. Due to problems with our car we haven't been able to buy the supplies yet, but we hope we'll get to do it next week before we leave!
Next on our shopping list became kitchen supplies. Various problems which make eating interesting, so as eating chicken wings with a spoon or having the ketchup running to the table through the plate, made the decision to invest in new kitchen supplies easy. Due to problems with our car we haven't been able to buy the supplies yet, but we hope we'll get to do it next week before we leave!
As the home doesn’t always have volunteers to drive the car during the weekends, there is a big need for someone with a driver’s license among the staff. When we leave back to Finland it would quickly become too expensive to take the girls from one place to another by taxis, so we decided to invest 1000 bolivianos (about 120€) for the driving school and license for one of the tías. In the long term, it’s in ever way a big benefit for the home. Well, we all know there’s no use for a driver if the car doesn’t work, and as our space miracle is acting irregularly from day to day we also decided to invest a small amount to the maintenance of the car.
During our time here
we have noticed that the girls love to play all sorts of games but
unfortunately both the basketballs and the board games are in bad shape. So we
got a few new board games and the long desired new UNO-cards,
which by the way have been in big use since the girls got their hands on them. We'll be buying basketballs later.
In the beginning of December we’re also taking all the girls and staff members from Corazon Grande to enjoy a ballet show, in which our little ballerinas Julia and Patty are performing.
Visiting the foster home of Gladys |
All in all everything we have been able to buy and invest on have been an incredible help for the girls home, and the joy is going to last for a long time. We couldn’t have done this without help, so the thanks belong to you.
We want to thank
everyone who supported our project and helped us to share information about it.
The girls and staff at Corazon Grande are very grateful and wish you a Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year 2014 !
And as we promised, honor and glory to all our supporters. Here they come!
Susanne
Halmén-Björkestam
Aija
Mandell
Betty-Maj
Forsman
Sanni
Isoviita
Hanna
Hyvärinen
Ida-Sofie
Asplund
Familjen
Nylund
Katja
Laitila
Jules
Dittmann
Krister
Widenius
Max
Widenius
Carola
Sevelius
Paul
Ingram
My
Widenius
Mimma,
Fifi & Mats
Leena
& Björn Finne
Saga
Finne
Anu
Koskenkari
Stella
Kanerva
Elma
& Marjo Ekblad
Anniina
Salo
Mary-Ann
Alanne
Karo
Mikkonen
Maija
Mikkonen
Bencin
Tättä
Mikke
& Leena Soini
Anna
Hedenborg
Barbara
Karstén
Mommo
Karstén & Mamma Lindén
Joni
Valontalon
yhteisö
Arcada
studerandekår ASK
Team
Spark, YH Novia
Familjen
Simpson
Sara
& Fredrik
Gustav
Juslin
Jan
& Liisa Halmén
Santtu
& Uffe Halmén
Annika
Halmén
Mia
Halmén
Ira
Turunen
Salla
Paananen
Misa
Pihlaniemi
Tuhannet kiitokset!
Vihdoinkin se on täällä, hetki jota me kaikki olemme odottaneet. Kuinka meidän rahankeruu-projektin kävi, ja mikä on lopputulos?
Kaikkien
lahjoittaneiden ansiosta projektimme on ollut suuri menestys, suurempi kuin
osasimme odottaa. Kahden viikon aikana saimme yli 40 lahjoitusta perheiltä,
ystäviltä ja tutuilta. Lahjoituksia kerääntyi yhteensä 1943 euroa, joka vastaa
noin 18 200 bolivianoa.
Alusta asti oli selvää
että käyttäisimme 40€/tyttö, eli 1000€ tulevan lukuvuoden koulutarvikkeisiin ja
koulupukuihin. Olimme itse mukana tekemässä hankintoja Etelä-Amerikan
suurimmilla markkinoilla, joilla ostosten tekeminen on aina yhtä seikkailua. Koulupukuja ostaessa myös pari nuorta
lastenkodilta olivat mukana makutuomareina ja sovitusapuna. Koska markkinat ovat kooltaan kuin pieni kaupunki, ei tavaroiden löytäminen aina ole kovin yksinkertaista. Olisikin ollut liian helppoa jos koulupuvut olisivat löytyneet yhtenä kappaleena samasta paikasta, sen sijaan että pukujen kaikki osat olivat ripoteltuna ympäri markkinoita.
Seuraavana
hankintalistalla oli keittiötarvikkeet. Vaihtelevat ongelmat jotka tekevät
ruokailuhetkistä välillä haastavia, esimerkiksi kanankoipien syöminen lusikalla
tai ketsupin valuminen lautasen läpi pöydälle, saivat keittiötarvikkeisiin
sijoittamisen tuntumaan luontevalta päätökseltä.Vaitettavasti emme ole vielä päässeet ostamaan tavaroita, sillä auto on ollut rikki. Toivomme kuitenkin että kerkeisimme ostoksille vielä ensi viikolla ennen kotiinlähtöämme.
Tytöt auttoivat kirjaamaan jokaisen tavaran |
Muutaman tunnin jälkeen samalla kojulla. |
Koska lastenkodilla
ei aina ole vapaaehtoisia ajamassa autoa viikonloppuisin, on toiselle
ajokortilliselle työntekijälle suuri tarve. Lähtömme jälkeen tulisi matkanteko pidemmän
päälle kalliiksi taksilla, joten päätimme sijoittaa 1000 bolivianoa (noin 120€)
yhden työntekijän autokouluun ja ajokorttiin sillä siitä on kaikin puolin
pitkäaikainen hyöty lastenkodille. Kuskista ei kuitenkaan ole hyötyä ilman
toimivaa autoa, ja koska tilaihmeemme reistailee päivästä toiseen päätimme myös
sijoittaa pienen summan auton huoltokuluihin.
Olemme täällä
ollessamme huomanneet että tytöt pitävät kaikennäköisten pelien pelaamisesta,
mutta valitettavasti sekä koripallot että lautapelit ovat huonossa kunnossa.
Tyttöjen iloksi hankimme siis muutaman uuden lautapelin sekä
pitkään toivotut uudet UNO-kortit. Koripallot hankimme myöhemmin. Viemme myös joulukuun alussa kaikki tytöt ja
työntekijät nauttimaan balettiesityksestä, jossa pienet balleriinamme Julia ja
Patty esiintyvät.
Lopuksi päätimme
että lahjoitamme osan rahoista lastenkotiin, jonka perustajat ovat espanjankielen opettajamme Gladys ja norjalainen Hanne. Lastenkodissa asuu melkein 40 eri-ikäistä poikaa ja tyttöä, kolmessa eri talossa. Täällä ollesamme Gladys
on ollut meille enemmän kuin opettaja ja hän tukenut meitä paljon työmme
puolesta. Sekä Gladyksesta että hänen lastenkodista on tullut meille tärkeitä,
joten haluamme autttaa myös heitä kun meillä nyt on siihen mahdollisuus.
Kaiken kaikkiaan
nämä hankinnat ja sijoitukset ovat olleet uskomattoman suuri apu lastenkodille
ja niistä tulee olemaan iloa ja hyötyä pitkäksi aikaa. Emme olisi voineet
toteuttaa projektia ilman teidän apua, joten kiitos kuuluu teille.
Tuhannet kiitokset
kaikille lahjoittaneille, sekä kaikille ystäville ja tutuille jotka pistivät
sanan kiertämään projektistamme. Corazon Granden tytöt ja henkilökunta kiittää ja kumartaa, sekä toivottaa kaikille
erittäin Hyvää Joulua ja Onnellista Uutta Vuotta 2014 !
Tusen tack!
Äntligen är stunden som vi alla väntat på här. Hur gick det med penginsamlingsprojektet, vad blev resultatet?
Tack vare alla som
donerat har projektet varit en stor succé, större än vi kunde förvänta oss.
Under två veckors tid fick vi över 40 donationer från familjer, vänner och
bekanta. Allt som allt fick vi insamlat 1943 euro, vilket motsvarar 18 2000
bolivianos.
Från första början
var det klart för oss att använda 40€/flicka, alltså sammanlagt 1000€ för att skaffa skolmaterial och skoluniformer
inför nästa läsår. Allt skaffades på en av Sydamerikas största marknad, där vi själva
var med då inköpen gjordes. Då vi var och handla skoluniformerna fick vi hjälp av två av våra flickor, med att pröva storlekar och säga sina åsikter. Som ni kan tänka er är det inte alltid det lättaste att göra stora inköp på marknaden, och det tar sin tid. Det skulle ju vara alldeles för lätt ifall t.ex. skoluniformerna hittades på ett och samma ställe, istället för att söka varje del skilt på en marknad som är nästan lika stor som en liten stad...
Som näst på
inköpslistan kom köksredskapen. Matstunderna i huset känns ibland mer eller
mindre utmanande, då t.ex. hönslår försöks äta med sked eller då ketchupen
rinner genom tallriken. Att investera i nya köksredskap kändes således som ett
naturligt beslut. På grund av att bilen för tillfället är på reparation har vi inte kunna göra uppköpen ännu, men vi hoppas att vi hinner med detta nästa vecka innan vi åker hem.
Eftersom barnhemmet
inte alltid har volontärer som kör bilen under veckosluten, finns ett stort
behov för en till i personalen med körkort. Efter att vi åkt hem till Finland,
skulle bilresorna snabbt bli dyra med taxi, vilket fick oss att investera 1000
bolivianos (ca.120€) i att en av personalen går bilskolan och skaffar körkort.
Detta kommer i långa loppet att vara en stor nytta för verksamheten i hemmet.
Att ha en kusk är ändå till ingen nytta ifall bilen inte fungerar, och eftersom
vår mirakelbil med jämna mellanrum har ett eller annat problem bestämde vi oss
för att ge en liten summa till bilens reparationskostnader.
Under vår tid på
hemmet har vi märkt att flickorna tycker om att spela alla sorters spel, men
tyvärr är både bordsspelen och korgbollarna i dåligt skick. För att glädja
flickorna skaffade vi således några nya bordsspel, nya bollar och de länge
efterlängtade UNO-korten. Dessutom för vi flickorna och personalen till en
balettföreställning där två av våra flickor, Julia och Patty, dansar.
Till slut beslöt vi
oss att donera en del av pengarna till ett annat barnhem, vilket är grundat av
vår spanskalärare Gladys och den norske Hanne. Barnhemmet bosätter nästan 40 pojkar och flickor i olika åldrar. Under vår tid i Bolivia har
Gladys varit mer än enbart en lärare för oss, hon har varit ett stort stöd i
frågor om arbetet på hemmet. Både Gladys och hennes barnhem har blivit
betydelsefulla för oss, och nu när chansen finns att även kunna hjälpa dem vill
vi gärna göra det.
Allt som allt har
dessa inskaffningar och investeringar varit till otroligt stor hjälp för
barnhemmet, och kommer att vara till både nytta och glädje för en lång tid. Vi
kunde inte ha förverkligat projektet utan er hjälp, och således hör tacket till er.
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