USAID/OTI BOLIVIA HOT TOPICS
November 2005
USAID/OTI improves the academic experience of public school students in the high plains of Bolivia.
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| Children in Bartolina Fifa Public School learn to use computers in their new computer lab. Photo courtesy of USAID/La Paz. |
The Office of Transition Initiatives' Bolivia program promotes peaceful political participation and stability in El Alto and other marginalized communities and increases access to balanced information on issues of national importance. OTI also expands economic opportunity by supporting short-term, community-based activities in distressed areas. OTI is working with the national government to meet critical needs and help the country prepare for elections. OTI's implementing partner is Casals & Associates. The budget in 2004 was $6.3 million; the 2005 budget is $5.5 million.
Manuel Mamani wants to be an astronaut. Every night, 9-year-old Manuel studies the stars from the window of the single-room home he shares with four younger siblings and his mother, Lidia Mamani. Early every morning, he leads the family on a two-mile walk to Bartolina Fifa Public School in the rural municipality of Ayo Ayo in the Bolivian high plains. Before this year, he and his little siblings were forced to sit for class on the floor of the kitchen and outdoor patios under the searing Andean sun while, nearby, unfinished classrooms sat unused and in dire need of repair. Now Manuel rushes to his school's new computer lab so that he can research the solar system on the digital encyclopedia."
The lack of public resources for public education has long proved a source of tension between parents and municipal officials in rural areas. In collaboration with community associations and local governments, USAID/Bolivia is rehabilitating classrooms and setting up computer labs in
over-burdened schools throughout El Alto and the Altiplano. To date, 50 of the region's neediest schools, serving over 35,000 students, have been rehabilitated through the USAID Office of Transition Initiatives.
In Ayo Ayo, USAID/ OTI collaborated with the mayor and a group of leaders of local Parent-Teacher Associations to identify and prioritize seven flagship schools for support. In all, USAID rehabilitated 36 classrooms and distributed 540 new student desks among the schools, benefiting 1,500 students. The project also funded civic education classes for members of the PTA and local community, where participants learned about the democratic process.
"We are also able to take computer classes after the children finish school," says Lidia Mamani, who serves as president of the Bartolina Fifa PTA. "It is so wonderful to be able to learn alongside Manuel."
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C: Amy Frumin, LAC Program Manager, 202-712-4231, afrumin@usaid.gov
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