A YEAR IN
BOLIVIA 09
SUMMARY REPORT
FRENCH GUIANA
SURINAME
ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES BARBADOS GRENADA TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
n Amazo Apure
VENEZUELA
ni
Cuyu Tocantins
Caroni
co
s
Puru
• Half of adolescents do not go to secondary school
eira Mad
Tocantin
i
Our priorities in Bolivia
San M
Juruena
s
• Raising standards in education
ai Pa rag u
Altiplano
• Working for a safe environment for children, including clean water and health services ba
• Promoting good governance and children’s involvement in community development
Cochabamba Santa Cruz Sucre
Potosi Tarija CHILE
ARGENTINA
Co rum
La Paz
• Helping families increase their incomes and promoting women and children’s participation in family decisions
ene
Itenes
Culu
Mamore
Ben i
Manu
PERU
co
• Supporting ‘mother-and-child’ healthcare and care for ‘under fives’ r te
BRAZIL
anuel
cis
Grande
uaia
s uqruuari oTPa
Alt
Sa oF ran
rum
Irir
Co
rus
Pu
s • 22% of Bolivian children aged between 5 and 14 are working
jos Tapa
ba
Jurua
40 % of the rural population lacks safe drinking water and over 80% do not have adequate sanitation
Arag
zon
n azoNearly Am•
Xin
Ama
as
Tapajo s
Ri Arag o das uaia Mo
ene
zon
Culu
Ama
bet
Amaz is now This family garden on a sustainable food source
gro
Ica
GOOD REASONS why Plan works in Bolivia
gu
Tro m
rte
s
Sa
ro
Japura
Ne
o
cis
Neg
queta
3
oF ran
Arag
anuel
GUYANA
Bran
uaia
San M
co
co
ia
ain
Gu
Orino
SURINAME
uibo
i
Guaviare
FRENCH GUIANA
oera Uraric
Esseq
Irir
u
os
u
Meta
n
Xin Orin gu oco
as
Tapajo s
Apure
mazo
bet
Ri Arag o das uaia Mo
Tro m
Taquari
Grande
BOLIVIA
PARAGUAY
Country Office Programme Unit
BOLIVIA FACTS Capital: La Paz Population: 9.3 million Language: Spanish Climate: Although Bolivia lies entirely within tropical latitudes, climatic conditions vary widely from tropical in the lowlands to polar in the highest parts of the Andes.
Economy: Bolivia has the lowest GDP per capita in South America. However, the country is rich in natural resources. Agriculture accounts for roughly 15% of Bolivia’s GDP. Soybeans are the major cash crop, sold into the Andean Community market. Bolivia’s government remains heavily dependent on foreign assistance to finance development projects.
“We have a common objective: to improve children’s quality of life and promote their rights.” A child learns at an early childhood development centre
– Juan Felipe Sánchez, Plan’s Country Director
A YEAR IN
BOLIVIA 09 SUMMARY REPORT
FOCUS ON: A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR CHILDREN Children who grow up in a healthy, safe environment are far less likely to fall ill, miss out on schooling and be denied the opportunity to pull themselves out of poverty. Plan is improving children’s home and community environments by helping families access clean water and proper sanitation. We also teach them about good hygiene practices. We aim to protect children from Chagas disease, a chronic illness caused by infestation of the vinchuca beetle. Our work also extends to supporting families after a natural disaster, providing water, sanitation and measures to protect children’s health and long-term recovery.
A FUTURE AFTER THE FLOOD
A
Youth participate in a ‘Learning for Life’ workshop
The Bigger Picture
Plan is working with children, families and whole communities to address the problems that Bolivia faces. This report can only tell a small part of that story. As a further insight, last year we also: • Raised educational standards by training 2,153 teachers and teaching volunteers • Protected children from disease by building or upgrading 232 latrines • Offered vocational and business training to 2,087 people to help families improve their incomes • Worked to keep children safe from harm by training 1,567 community members and volunteers in child protection. Your support as a sponsor is crucial to achieving these positive results. So on behalf of the communities, partner organisations, and most of all the children we work with – thank you!
“A disaster can rip through the heart of a community, destroying the progress Plan and families have made together on creating a better future for their children.” To learn more about Plan’s work in Bolivia visit plan.org.au/ourwork/southernamerica/bolivia
Produced for Bolivia by the Australian National Office.
t 54, Margaret considers herself a little old to be living in a tent, but this is currently the home she shares with her husband, daughter and six sons. Margaret and her family used to have their own home in Quebrada Alvarez, a rural community in eastern Bolivia. Life there was good. It was a pretty place with lots of trees, a school and land to grow crops and rear animals. It was a friendly place too, where the neighbours all knew each other and would help each other out. But recently everything changed for Margaret’s family and their friends. Margaret recalls: “Constant rains started to fall. At the beginning it rained every day for a whole week, and on the last day it rained for five to seven hours. In all, 56 families had to be evacuated from the flooded area and taken uphill to safety at a camp in Puerto Rico. Margaret’s home and land were destroyed. “All our crops were ruined and we lost everything,” she says. Destroying progress Sadly, Margaret’s ordeal is all too common in developing countries like Bolivia. According to the 2008 World Disasters Report, around 200 million people had been affected by disaster the year before, a disproportionate number of these in the poorest communities. Plan’s work with vulnerable families around the world inevitably means we confront disasters, whether natural, like flooding, or man-made, like conflict. A disaster can rip through the heart of a community, destroying any progress Plan and families have made together on creating a better future for their children.
“When we first arrived, we were sad,” says Margaret. “We did not want to eat, my children did not want to study, we lacked money and food was scarce.” Planning for the future Getting supplies to families was clearly essential. Working with local, national and international agencies, Plan distributed essential food items like lentils and oatmeal, and basics like soap and clothing. We provided stoves and gas for cooking. Plan’s strength during a disaster lies in families’ long-term recovery, particularly for children. We supported training in education, so that children could return to schooling, spend time with their friends and return to some kind of normality. We taught families about hygiene and how to protect their children’s health and safety at the camp, and we trained them in preparing for disasters in the future. Margaret isn’t where she’d like to be right now, but she recognises that life is slowly improving. “We have improved cleaning and health,” she says. “We do not argue, we participate in clean-up campaigns.” With Plan’s support, she is also looking to life outside the camp, and what she will do should flooding occur again. She explains: “In disasterpreparedness workshops we were taught to organise ourselves. What we are taught will serve to improve our lives in the community.” Some names have been changed for child protection and privacy purposes.
Children are particularly at risk during and after a disaster. Many endure physical trauma during the event, and then have to cope with the deaths of family members, the loss of familiar surroundings like their home or school and the lack of shelter, food and water.
“In disaster-preparedness workshops we were taught to organise ourselves.”
plan.org.au