"Be Ye Patterns and Examples": Alicia, Pánfilo, Rebeca, Rubén and Others Explore Model School Possibility

UPDATE:

The basic points of the proposal are that:

A)    Friends have much to offer in educational reform and improvements in the Bolivian context.
B)    At this time the government is very open to new ideas and initiatives in the realm of education.
C)    Cochabamba has no Friends School (there are three in the La Paz area), and Friends there have been asking for a school.  This would be an ideal location to establish a model Friends school—it would not “compete” with existing schools yet is close enough that what happens there would be noticed and could be shared with other institutions. (Bolivian Friends tell us they also chose Cochabamba because the lower altitude - 8445 feet - and semi-tropical climate would be more hospitable for volunteers, compared to cool rainy La Paz at 13,000 feet.)
D)    There is a core of very interested individuals who are asking how they could get involved in such a venture.  Some are past scholarship recipients, some are current teachers and administrators, and some are professionals in Cochabamba who would be eager to do some of the leg work involved in this kind of a start-up project.

04/27/10 vk

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Several BQEF scholarship students and grads are among the Bolivian Quaker educators who are working on a Quaker model school project, now in the planning stage.  The new education law being implemented in Bolivia contains many ideas Quaker educators will find familiar, but existing examples of these ideas in action are scarce.

Bolivian Friends report there is lots of enthusiasm for establishing a Quaker model school to show the way – to fill the need for an example to follow. We're told the former becarios working on education in Boliva "are jumping on that project".  Friends in Bolivia may be able to find locally the economic resources needed to get this exciting new project off the ground. Quaker educators in the US and elsewhere would assist with guidance and other non-economic support.

It's cause for deep joy to see the commitment and passion these young people bring to their work. And cause for profound gratitude to supporters who've made the scholarships, internships, and other horizon-widening programs possible.