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The town Cochabamba is situated between the mountains at a height of 2500m above sea level. With 700,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Bolivia. The community Laphía lies 1000m above Cochabamba. Anyone who wants to visit the community has to walk three hours to get there. There are 42 families living in Laphía, which includes around 300 people in total. Since their foundation in 1993, SNKP-Bolivia has working together with this community. This cooperative effort has focused a number of areas, in particular improving the school building, educational program, the irrigation system and the legalisation of property rights.
The
school in Laphía: The Building
 In Laphía and the surrounding communities there are more than 200 children of elementary school age. At present, there is the old school (with two classrooms) and the new building, which is currently under construction. The school has two teachers and 94 students. When the new building is completed, children from the surrounding communities can also attend school in Laphía. The government has promised to provide extra teaching staff in Laphía. For these children, the school in Laphía offers the only possibility of gaining an education.
Due to rapidly-changing economic circumstances, an education is essential for the children’s successful future participation in their society. The income of farmers in Laphía is considered low by Bolivia standards ($20 to $30 per month). As a result, making improvements in these financial conditions can be difficult to realise, but the inhabitants have made efforts to use their own labour force. For instance, when building began on the new school building two years ago, the farmers made the necessary “adobe” bricks (from clay stone and grass) and baked them in the sun. SNKP-Bolivia also gave them money for cement. Two farmers from Laphía, Tomas and Pedro Vargas, who sometimes work on local building construction, have voluntarily taken on the coordination for the new building. It is a building with two classrooms on the ground floor and another level with two more classrooms. After two years, there is now a roof on the building. However, there was more money needed to complete the building. In 2002, the Rotary club “Op Seyst” donated $2500 to the community in Laphía.
Extra investments for the completion of the school
After speaking with the mayor of Tiquipaya about the school, we received the confirmation that extra teaching staff would be provided for the school. But first the school has to be fully completed. The “begroting” plans have been made by Ronald, a final year architecture student (who did his final year internship with an architecture company in Den Bosch, The Netherlands). The necessary steps include:
1- Cement for the floor
2- Cement for the plasterwork
3- Chalk and plaster for the internal plasterwork
4- Chalk and plaster for the ceiling plasterwork
5- Plasterwork for the second-floor balcony
6- Iron staircase
7- Iron balustrade
8- Window frames
9- Door frames
10- Wood for the second-level floors
11- Beams for the second-floor
12- Connection points for the power supply
13- Infrastructure for the lighting in the building
14- Energy supply for the planned computer education
The total is 20,758 Bolivianos (approximately US $3043). The council and mayor of Tiquipaya have promised to provide around US$700 for the doors, windows and cement. This means that we still have US $2300 necessary to complete the construction work and not lose the promise for extra teaching staff. After this, we will still have $10,000 needed for the electricity system (to install solar panels). Only after these essential costs are covered, will we begin to think about finding school desks, chairs and reading material. The football team “Vrijlinks” is prepared to support Laphía with SNKP-Bolivia on a long term basis with the fitout of the school and the establishment with sufficient reading material in the school library.
The education and collaboration with 'Vrij Links'
 The school in Laphía has two teachers and 94 students. At present, there are lessons up to the 6th grade of elementary school. The age of the students ranges between 7-18 years of age. Due to the difficult financial situation of most families in the community, education and reading material is an expensive luxury. With the establishment of a library, the community hopes to further increase both teaching standards and reading ability in their school.
Since 2002, the football team “Vrij Links” has supported the people of Laphía to provide chairs and desks in their school and increase the reading material available in the library. In 1993, the first donations were made for the library after consultation with the inhabitants and teaching staff. The community organised for metal shelves (with glass doors) to display the books. These were old shelves that the council Tiquipaya did not need and donated upon request of the village inhabitants from Laphía. The new books were covered in plastic by SNKP-volunteers and the children. The school pupils also made a small newspaper to show something about their lives to pupils the Montessori College “Oost” in the Netherlands. When boys are 17 years old they have often already worked for two years on the land. It is also not unusual that 16 or 17 year old boys marry girls (who are 15 or 16 years old) and receive a child. The young people in Laphía find it important to build links with the Netherlands because it offers a possibility for improvements to their school and living situation. In this sense, the school is also an information and educational centre for the entire community.
The irrigation system
in Laphía
 Several years ago, the inhabitants of Laphía and Derechos Humanos laid down two water tanks to insure a constant water supply. In addition they also built a glass house. Now the inhabitants are ready to begin with the canalisation of the land.
It was necessary to meet with all inhabitants and landowners to discuss the path of this precious water supply. The plan was agreed upon and a search began for technicians, who would carry out the plan for a reasonable price. Eventually, three students from the University of San Simon, Cochabamba (PEIRAV research institute) were found. The finances provided by SNKP for the water system was placed in a special account, registered for the community with three signatories (the mayor and general secretary of communication for Laphía and a Bolivian SNKP representative).
The account was opened with the Banco Sol and will be used for the management of funds that SNKP makes available for the community. In this manner, SNKP wants to allow the community to manage and self-determine the funds collected for them. The community has promised to keep proper accounting and are prepared to give advice to other village communities about this process. The Banco Sol is a new commercial bank in Bolivia, which for the first time offers the possibility of opening an account with small deposit amounts.
With this new development, the SNKP can open separate bank accounts for a variety of recipient groups in Bolivia. The research institute PEIRAV, which is associated with the University of San Simon in Cochabamba, has completed a study for the improvement of the same irrigation system as in Laphía. According to this research, the current loss of water can be decreased by 70 percent. The cost of these improvements is estimated at US $13,000. This is a lot of money, yet the inhabitants of Laphía have decided to carry out the work themselves and now meet every Saturday to work together. To help the inhabitants complete this work more quickly, SNKP placed US $2500 in the Laphía village’s account with Banco Sol. The four students that did the research on the water system, will go regularly to Laphía to assist with implementing the project.
Via a network of Bolivian volunteers, SNKP has arranged a free loan of measuring equipment needed for the researchers. SNKP-Bolivia believes it is important to work with the existing organisations and structures in Bolivia, so that use is made from the existing capacities. |
