blstanford's blog

The Joys of Sponsorship

When my aunt died, she left my mother a small legacy.   We decided that the best way to honor her memory was to sponsor a couple of Bolivian students who shared some of her qualities—a love of music and a love of children.

After corresponding with our two students, I had the great pleasure of going to Bolivia on the Quaker Study and Service Tour and meeting them at a potluck the entire group of scholarship students hosted for our group.  Maritza greeted me warmly and tried to explain to me about her curriculum in linguistics and teacher training. Janelle came in later with her Christian Mariachi Band which entertained our whole group.  It was one of the high points of my life.

Nancy Mamani Aspi comes from a family committed to education – her father is a teacher, her three siblings have stayed in school despite challenges.

In high school Nancy received a music scholarship so she could learn guitar, charango, and music theory.  She still loves music and practices guitar in her free time. Nancy was also chosen while still in high school to represent the indigenous young people of the Department of La Paz in a congress of eight Latin American countries held in Guatemala. The theme of the meeting was “Peace”.

From reports by Juan Yujra, Bernabé Yujra, Rubén Hilare, Beatriz Apaza, and Abigail Medina

One Saturday this past June, 17 of the 77 graduates of the BQEF Scholarship program gathered for a reunion. There they met the challenge of helping the next generation.

During the reunion, the Scholarship Committee and Bernabé Yujra presented a challenge: to support the next generation of Quaker young people who have the same needs that they had as students.  As part of this challenge, he asked for commitments to help at least one scholarship student in the second semester of 2011.  

Meet Irma
The former scholarship students responded generously and provided contributions and pledges that now support the first scholarship student sponsored in Bolivia.

K'ispina, cucumber salad, quinoa salad and more: download the Bolivian foods pamphlet by clicking on the link below

We have a new first day school lesson available for 4th grade and up.  The complete lesson includes stories (see Lesson Plan), a slide show, videos, and a booklet. Please forward the links or download and print the materials to share with your First Day School committee.  We hope you enjoy this new opportunity for getting to know Bolivian Friends better, and we welcome your feedback on the materials and how they might have led students and others to find ways to connect with Friends in Bolivia.