Sustainable Bolivia

For nearly two years Sustainable Bolivia provided housing to Scottish-born painter Thomas “Mac” McGreggor. Through Mac, SB met many local and international artists and quickly became involved in Cochabamba’s art community. In an effort to maintain this cultural exchange, as well as develop a tradition within our organization, SB decided to work alongside local artists to develop an art residency program.

The residency program is available to all artists from any country regardless of age, gender, or medium. The residency focuses on the disciplines of visual arts but we will also consider applications from other mediums including creative writing, music and dance. Preference will be given to those with Spanish language skills.

The Sustainable Bolivia Film Project was conceived in early 2009 with the goal of making a series of short documentaries which highlight the work of our partner organizations. Much of the work being done by our partners is unknown outside the small sphere within which they operate, and these documentaries are a useful tool to tell the story of their origins, aims and methods. Furthermore, the act of making a documentary is also a project in itself; a chance to involve the community in the process of constructing an archive which will then be presented to its various members and kept as a memory for future generations.

Through a medium which extends beyond conventional outreach models, these documentaries are used for both fundraising and informative purposes. They provide both a voice for personal stories and a method of bringing abstract issues to life. Finally, these films strike a balance between the harsher realities of Bolivian life with the perseverance, energy and happiness that is prevalent within our partner organizations.

In February 2009, Sustainable Bolivia’s staff met to develop a new system to aid our partner organizations while providing increased transparency and volunteer/intern involvement. We decided to implement a mini grant program whereby each volunteer is given funds to spend on a project at his or her volunteer location.

Unlike most foreign aid organizations, Sustainable Bolivia’s volunteers are in the unique position of working at the recipient location with first-hand knowledge of their most desperate needs. Working alongside local staff, volunteers and interns will design a project, or make purchases, to address these needs. This will provide the volunteer with additional responsibilities and further incorporate them into their place of work. Additionally it will provide increased transparency over how the funds are allocated assuring that they appropriately reach their intended recipients.

All volunteers will be provided a mini grant application form and have access to a minimum of $75 a month; thus a volunteer staying for four months will have a minimum of $300 available to them. Alternatively, volunteers may opt to have their mini-grant funds roll over to the next volunteer thereby increasing the available funds. We also encourage fundraising especially if the costs of the project or purchases exceed the allotted amount. We hope this will encourage additional fundraising allowing us to provide more assistance to our partners.

Sustainable Bolivia is dedicated to promoting environmental sustainability within our organization and in the larger community. In an effort to practice what we preach, we track both the resource footprint of our physical operations, as well as the local and global impacts that occurs through our programs.

To ensure continued action towards sustainability, SB has a sustainability intern who works with us for three months each year to launch new initiatives and programming. Our first sustainability intern during the summer of 2011 organized our first comprehensive Sustainability Report on the social, economic and environmental impact of the organization; it serves as a current snapshot as well as a baseline to measure future progress. We encourage all potential volunteers to read this brief document to learn more about our vision.

The 2012 sustainability internship focused on implementing and expanding on-site environmental projects at our location in Cochabamba, Bolivia. These include expanded food gardening, grey-water recycling and composting systems, as well as education and awareness-building among our volunteers.

In 2013, we continued to monitor our sustainability efforts and build partnerships within the community. In 2014, we will be seeking a sustainability intern to focus on sustainability education among our volunteers – helping volunteers better understand current opportunities and challenges in creating sustainable communities worldwide. Volunteers will have the chance to learn about the systems that we have in place, try using sustainable technologies, and learn about the diversity of perspectives around global sustainability.