August 2016 Wrap-Up – New Water Reservoirs, New Schools, 2015 Annual Report
With the month of August wrapping up, we wanted to do an overview of our blogposts from the past few weeks – there is a lot going on at Mano a Mano! There are links for each post at the bottom of the section.
2015 Annual Report
We posted our 2015 Annual Report at the start of the month.
New Water Reservoir in Wirkini Providing Access to Water for 2,000 Bolivians
Earlier this month our counterpart organization Mano a Mano Nuevo Mundo completed a large-scale water reservoir in Wirkini, Bolivia. Wirkini is a small community located in the Province of Tiraque, Department of Cochabamba, and is about 12,700 feet above sea level in the Bolivian Altiplano.
Completed reservoir in Wirkini, filling with water.
The reservoir will provide irrigation water to at least 341 Bolivian farm families in the area and irrigate 269 hectares of land (average family size is 6, for a total number of beneficiaries of 2,046). Water is typically only available in the Bolivian Highlands for the 2-3 month rainy season, and the rest of the year is a struggle for farmers to have water access for their crops and livestock. These water reservoir projects retain water and provide water access year-round, which allows for farmers to grow more and better crops, which in turn increases family nutrition and household incomes.
Learn more about the Wirkini water reservoir project here.
Building Greenhouses and Hosting Visitors at the Center for Ecological Agriculture
Mano a Mano’s Center for Ecological Agriculture (CEA) provides low-cost, low-tech tools & training to rural Bolivian farmers to increase food security and nutrition. The Center is located on the outskirts of Cochabamba, and also provides an ideal location to host visitors and people from the surrounding areas.
Volunteers from the student group Oxford Development Abroad have been working at the CEA in the month of August, building a sample greenhouse before traveling to rural communities to help build greenhouses with Mano a Mano and the communities themselves.
Cochabamba students checking out the dry bathroom at the CEA.
Providing Emergency Flights to People Like Fernando
Our counterpart organization Mano a Mano Apoyo Aereo (Aviation Support) provides flights for emergency flights, weekend health clinics, and Mano a Mano organizational support. In 2015 our aviation program provided 538 people throughout Bolivia with emergency flights.
Mano a Mano plane landing in a rural community.
Learn more about a recent emergency flight for Fernando, who had a serious back injury and needed an emergency flight, which Mano a Mano provided.
New Schools in Sora Sora and Comun Pampa
Over the past few weeks our counterpart organization Mano a Mano Bolivia has completed new schools in the communities of Sora Sora and Comun Pampa.
Inauguration event with the community dedicating the new school in Comun Pampa.
Learn more about the Comun Pampa school project here.
Wrapping up construction of the Sora Sora School
Learn more about the Sora Sora school project here.
Minnesota Teacher Trip to Bolivia
This was Mano a Mano’s 4th year of hosting teacher trips to Bolivia. Minnesota teachers travel to Bolivia with Mano a Mano to participate in workshops with Bolivian teachers. This year focused on a week-long teacher training project in Santivanez, a new community for this project. Our Minnesota teachers presented workshops for 80 Bolivian teachers in a community that has 15 schools. They had opportunities to observe and participate in classroom teaching and then teach workshops on language arts, math, and communication among parents, teachers, and students. Minnesota teachers spend months preparing the workshop lessons and pay all of their own expenses.
Minnesota Teacher Trip to Bolivia – June 2016
Check out pictures from the June 2016 Minnesota Teacher Trip to Bolivia.
One of Our Favorite Quotes
