Kayla Belush of Earlville is spending part of the summer volunteering in Bolivian schools through a unique faculty-led field course in collaboration with Save the Children International.
Twenty-two SUNY Oneonta students arrived in Bolivia on May 17 and will spend two weeks immersing themselves in Bolivian culture and doing service-learning projects in elementary schools, high schools and in the Save the Children offices. They are accompanied by Brett Heindl, associate professor of political science, and Alejandra Escudero, lecturer in Spanish.
While in Cochabamba, the students are holding daily workshops on English; geography, soccer, basketball and kickball; art and drawing; intercultural music and dance; leadership and project planning; and health and hygiene. They will also paint murals with educational messages in a few of the schools.
At the end of the trip, the students will talk with staff at Save the Children’s headquarters in La Paz about tools and effective techniques for fundraising and social media. They will also visit the U.S. embassy to talk more about U.S.-Bolivian relations and U.S.-led development projects under way within the country.
Prior to the trip, the students raised $11,500 and collected office and school supplies to be donated to Save the Children International’s office in Bolivia. In addition to crowdfunding through social media, the group collaborated with student clubs to hold campus fundraisers such as a benefit concert and a dodgeball tournament.
According to Save the Children, two-thirds of Bolivia’s people, many of whom are subsistence farmers, live in poverty. Save the Children focuses on community-based activities that help improve the health, education, food security and nutrition of Bolivian children.
The students are posting personal reflections on a blog, oneyforbolivia.wordpress.com, and documenting their experience across several social media platforms using #oneyforbolivia.