Bolivian Quaker Education Fund Invitation 2013

Learning the Life of the Spirit

 

Many Friends in Bolivia - where it is unusually cold this summer season - are returning to school and university after their annual break.
Here, we invite you to join us in visiting among Bolivian Friends, perhaps help make arrangements for a Bolivian Friend to visit here, and share a word (or two) about our new address.
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You're Invited! 2013 Quaker Service & Study Tour by Barbara Stanford, BQEF Board Member

Visiting Bolivian Quakers in their homes and churches - on the slopes of the Andes, on the high plains around Lake Titicaca, and in the cities of El Alto and La Paz - was one of the highlights of my life. The Quaker Service and Study Tour gave me rich, horizon-expanding opportunities to know and understand Friends in Bolivia and their struggles and dreams.

I visited with BQEF scholarship students and heard about the challenge of moving from remote Aymara-speaking villages to university where materials are in Spanish and English, and about their dreams for improving the lives of their families and communities. We heard their music and song and ate their wonderful food, prepared and shared with warmth and generosity.
I worshiped in a Quaker church whose worship form was very different from mine, but where the Spirit was just as available, and where the congregation was warm and welcoming.

I met farmers raising llamas and hardy crops in some of Earth’s most difficult environments - farmers who were facing ever-greater challenges from the very visible effects of climate change.
For our service project, we worked with parents and staff to complete a drainage project in the courtyard of the Quaker-run Student Residence in the beautiful Sorata valley. We ate, studied, and played with the delightful young people who live there during the school week. And we visited one of the remote mountainside homes from which students had to walk hours to go to school before the Residence was available.
This is an exciting time to visit one of the most beautiful countries in the world - Bolivia is experiencing dramatic social and political change as the indigenous majority emerges from centuries of oppression. The 2013 Quaker Service and Study Tour of Bolivia is now forming. This year, join us in working with individual BQEF scholarship students to help improve their English skills, so necessary for their studies.

Trip extensions are also available. Choose from Cusco - Machu Picchu, a visit to the vanishing Amazon jungle, to "The Mirror of the Heavens" (Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest lithium-rich salt flat), and/or additional volunteering post-trip in Bolivia.

For more information about the trip, see www.TreasuresoftheAndes.com or contact Barbara Flynn at info@treasuresoftheandes.com, 707-823-6034 (California).

For more information about our scholarship students and the Student Residence in the beautiful Sorata valley, visit www.bqef.org._________________________________________________________________________

We've Moved!

We thank "Founder and Spark Plug" - now President Emeritus - Newton Garver for over a decade of servant leadership, and gladly help lighten his load by moving our U.S. office from his home. Newton will continue serving in an advisory and development capacity.

Our new address, effective now:

Bolivian Quaker Education Fund, Inc.
65 Spring Street
Fredonia, NY 14063

Meanwhile, some things haven't changed. Our email and website are still:
office@bqef.org
www.bqef.org

Please send your ideas, questions, volunteer inquiries, and donations to our new address shown above (and at the bottom of this email)._________________________________________________________________________

Hands-on: Help arrange for a Bolivian Friend to meet US Quakers.

Would you like to help arrange visits of English-speaking Bolivian Quakers to U.S. Yearly Meetings and Friendly gatherings this summer? Workshop and interest group deadlines are fast approaching. Please email us today at office@bqef.org if you'd like to help arrange a visit, in your area or elsewhere. ________________________________________________________________________

Together

...we can continue to nurture and celebrate the spirit of young Bolivian Friends in their dreams of education and fellowship, with your support.

"An investment in Bolivian Quaker young people brings a whole lot of value for a small amount of money" as one of our supporters said.
Please click here to donate online via Network for Good

or send checks to:
Bolivian Quaker Education Fund, Inc.
65 Spring Street
Fredonia, NY 14063-2128

Please contact us if you would like to donate stock, at office@bqef.org

May Light and Love bless your lives and endeavors.

Jens, Barbara, Vickey, Bernabé, Juan, Alicia, and all of us here at BQEF and BQE-Bo.

World's Largest Wetland in Bolivia

Trinidad, Bolivia — To mark the annual World Wetlands Day, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance has designated the Bolivian Llanos De Moxos wetland its largest site ever.

At more than 6.9 million hectares, the site is equivalent to the size of the Netherlands and Belgium together, and is prized for its rich natural diversity, as well as cultural value.

“WWF applauds the government of Bolivia for taking bold action to protect these vital ecosystems,” said Jim Leape, WWF International Director General.

“The Amazon basin, covering nine countries, supports native species and the millions of people who live there – and plays an essential role in regulating the climate we all depend on. Healthy wetlands support the proper functioning of the whole Amazon,” Leape added.

The Llanos de Moxos, located near the borders of Bolivia, Peru and Brazil, consists of tropical savannas with cyclical droughts and floods.

These wetlands are especially prized for their rich natural diversity: 131 species of mammals have been identified to date, 568 different birds, 102 reptiles, 62 amphibians, 625 fish and at least 1,000 plant species. Several species – including the giant otter and the Bolivian river dolphin – have been identified as vulnerable, endangered or at critical risk of extinction.

The region is traversed by three major rivers, the Beni in the west, the Iténez or Guaporé to the east, and the Mamoré in the central region. These rivers converge to form the Madeira River, the major southern tributary of the Amazon River.

The Llanos de Moxos wetlands are important to avoid floods, maintain minimum flows in the rivers during the dry season and regulate the region’s hydrological cycle.

The area is sparsely populated, comprising seven indigenous territories and eight protected areas. Peasant communities and private properties also exist in the region, both mainly dedicated to farming.

The region was inhabited by pre-Columbian cultures from 800 B.C. to 1200 A.D. These together formed the “Moxos water-based cultures” typified by the clever use of hydraulic infrastructure for water management of the vast territory covered by the llanos, or plains, which sustained intensive agricultural production on which these ancient peoples survived.

The Bolivian Government Commitment
“We recognize the significant role of these wetlands in the conservation of Mother Earth, as well as the importance of the declaration confirming the Llanos de Moxos as internationally protected wetlands. We are proud to confirm to the world that the government of Bolivia is committed, in collaboration with social actors, to assuming the preservation of these areas as evidence of our efforts to achieve development for all our citizens," stated Juan Pablo Cardozo Arnez, Bolivian Deputy Minister for the Environment.

"This is an important step as we continue to forge a truly harmonious relationship between our peoples and Mother Earth,” Arnez added.

The Deputy Minister went on to say: “Echoing the words of our President Evo Morales, we call upon all countries to incorporate [environmental] rights into their legislation and to comply with existing international agreements in this respect, so that human beings can begin to live in complete harmony and equilibrium with Mother Earth.”

Ramsar Convention
The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance is an intergovernmental treaty, signed by 160 countries in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar. The Ramsar Convention’s mission is the conservation and wise use of wetlands, with the goal of achieving sustainable development.

The designation of Llanos de Moxos is the product of a cooperative effort led by the government of of Beni Department, and Bolivia’s Environment and Water Ministry and Vice-Ministry of the Environment. WWF did the technical studies under the Ramsar Convention framework to qualify for designation as a wetland of international importance.

Bolivia acceded to the Ramsar Convention in 1990 and ratified it on 7 May 2002. It has eight other Ramsar sites: Los Lípez in south western Potosi Department; Lake Titicaca (La Paz Department), the Taczara basin in Tarija Department, Lakes Poopó and Uru Uru (Oruro Department), the Bolivian Pantanal, the Izozog Marshes and the Parapetí River in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

“The Moxos’ declaration is a victory for wetlands conservation in the Amazon region. It will help protect different ecosystems and landscapes, guarantee a balanced provision of goods and services for Amazonian inhabitants and secure the future of this rich but fragile area,” said Luis Pabón, WWF-Bolivia Country Director.

“But most important is the challenge the Bolivian government and society are assuming, committing to protect the Llanos de Moxos in the long term. This declaration is clear evidence of how, here in Latin America and especially in Bolivia, supporting government conservation processes and policies can lead to important achievements,” he added.

Palms in Lake Rogaguado, Beni, Bolivia.

© WWF-Bolivia / Omar RochaEnlarge

Related links

• More information on the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands