Working with the Escuelita in Coscoma by Fran Smith

The long and constantly uphill walk to Coscoma from Coripata is well worth it to see all the children at the primary school there. From the first time we went it was clear this would be one of the highlights of our time in Coripata.

Our task was to teach them about the UK and Afrobolivian culture as well as nutrition.  Preparing the presentations we made sure to include lots of activities and visual aids.

The first presentation we gave was about the UK. Teaching the kids about fish and chips and our flags was a lot of fun! It will be great when we return home to know that there are kids in a small village in Bolivia that know how to say hello in Welsh (Shwmae) and talk about bagpipes. The smallest children particularly enjoyed the story of the dragon on the Welsh flag! In addition we taught them some basic English as well as very enthusiastically received rendition of heads, shoulders, knees and toes.

Marcelo, Chloé, Fran, Kelsey with school children

The other presentation of Afrobolivian culture focuses on the history of Afrobolivian people. They were brought to Bolivia as part of the slave trade, to work in the silver mines of Potosi. However when many of them died due to harsh conditions, they were moved to the much more agreeable climate of the Yungas to work on the haciendas. Today the Afrobolivians, a now recognised ethnicity in Bolivia, where they are numbered at around 35,000, are campaigning to promote their culture and rights. We are working with our partner organisation AFROBO in order to achieve this. In addition to inspire the children in the school, many of whom are of Afrobolivian heritage, the group spoke about successful people of Afrobolivian decent, many of whom are footballers.

Angie and Afrobolivian poster

The next topics we prepared was about nutrition. We prepared posters on the different food groups and 50 booklets for the children to take home. The older children were especially eager to learn, whilst with the younger kids it was much harder to teach such a complex subject matter. We first asked them their typical diet which was mainly rice and meat. By the end of the class they were able to make a more balanced plate, using local foods they could easily obtain. We also taught them about sugar, as they drink a lot of fizzy drinks here, and the affect it has on their teeth. Finally we taught them about the importance of hygiene and clean water. Which they seemed to have a little prior knowledge on but did not seem to be acting on.

Finally we spent time in their lunch break playing basketball and letting the little girls do our hair. They really enjoyed it and it was a great chance to get to know them.

It is a shame we will no longer be able to go because of their exams and summer vacation. However we feel we managed to teach the children some interesting topics and make a proper difference.