Positive changes in Bolivia
by Anna Janota
Anna is one of our international volunteers working with our
partner the
National Institute of the Blind in Sucre, Bolivia
My two years working in Bolivia are sadly coming to an end. I am in my last days working for the Bolivia Institute for the Blind (IBC) and am pleased to say that we have seen some really positive changes during my time here. Through the Irish Aid project we implement training workshops focused on Rights Education, Citizen Participation and local Government Capacity Building, a first for IBC. The workshops have been a great success, with an average of twenty members of the institute attending each of them. We also had the opportunity to travel out to rural areas (the province of Monteagudo) to carry out awareness raising workshops with the local authorities, as well as with the blind and visually impaired members of the community.
We have been advancing in other areas too. We have had ongoing coordination with the local university, San Francisco Xavier, that provided students to work in IBC. Together we developed an Audio and Braille library and the library is now open to the members of the institute who want to visit it. All the Irish Aid funded workshops have been recorded and these copies are available in the library. David has also been teaching Braille to adult members of the institute three times a week.
Thanks to the South American NGO, FOAL, we have a blind IT teacher and we are now running computer courses for members of the institute. Those who complete the course will receive a diploma recognised by the Ministry of Education.
If asked what the greatest visible achievement has been during my time with IS and IBC, I would have to say the noticeable change in the members of the Institute. They are motivated; more confident; they have embraced the workshops, really enjoying the opportunity to learn new skills and improve their education; they are keen to keep advancing in their work and to fight for their rights and they have become my friends as well as my colleagues over this last year and I’m really proud of what they have achieved.
Anna’s post was financed by Irish Aid.
