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Luz del Mundo
Luz del Mundo is a home/child minding centre in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, run
by Gabriela Rojas Llave. Local children attend and are offered English
classes as well as other extra curricular activities such as theatre,
music and
cultural studies. There is no cultural centre in Santa Cruz and the aim of
these classes is to provide the children with a rich knowledge of their
culture and enable them to demonstrate what they learn to others through
performance.
Gabriela, the director provides them with lunch and all of their learning
materials, birthday and Christmas parties/presents, haircuts as well as
encouragement and loving support that in a lot of cases they don't receive
in their homes.
What kind of children attend Luz del Mundo?
Children of single parents living in absolute basic living conditions who
are in real need of an escape from their ordinary lives in order to
broaden their horizons and hopefully prevent the fall into the delinquency
and ignorance that unfortunately becomes the reality for a lot of the ones
who are brought up in these poor areas.
Objectives
The main objective is to improve the infrastructure of the institution in
order to be able to offer more facilities and skills to the children. Also
to obtain the necessary equipment for classes such as more tables, chairs,
blackboards, and a small library that the local children can use at no
cost in order to facilitate their learning. Assistance is
also needed in the form of personnel who will be able to
provide classes in language and in the
areas of music or theatre.
Gabriela Rojas Llave is the director of Luz Del Mundo
My name is Gabriela Rojas Llave, I'm the daughter of a single mother and
thanks to god, my mother taught me to cultivate love towards others. After
I finished my secondary school, I took a course that would enable me to
work and create a beneficiary foundation for the children in my
neighbourhood. I had previously worked in a home for poor children where I
was witness to things and situations that would change my life and way of
thinking forever. I realized that until then I didn't know what the
importance of life was and since then I realize how wonderful a gift it is
to be able to give and help people. I am myself a young mother of two
daughters and have a loving husband; I adore my family and it's tough as
we only get to spend a few hours in the week together since my husband
works 7 days a week.
I live in a neighbourhood that is considered by many the most poor and
dangerous in the city which isn't so far from the truth but what people
forget to realize is that there are so many children living here who have
the right to a better future and life. They are children from the zone,
children of friends, neighbours. They fill my life with happiness and love
and they deserve the best from life. I am currently studying law and I
look forward to finishing as a recognised professional and dedicating my
life to improving the lives of the children who are being raised as I was
but perhaps without the luck that I had for the love and support of my
mother. The things I want to see from this institution are the following:
* I want other poor areas of the city to be able to see and implement
similar learning activities and opportunities to their children and
together change the minds of our future in a positive way.
* I want to achieve my dream and vision in our own institution and build a
more comfortable dining area, a proper classroom, a library and an area
for the babies and smallest children to enable their older siblings to
leave them happily whilst they participate in classes.
* To build a small and modest theatre where we can host interschool
participation in
Bolivian culture and dance performances.
* To involve other people from the zone to conduct classes in language,
arts, computation, and manual work as well as someone to act as a nanny
for the youngest children.
* To change the image of the poorest neighbourhoods in Santa Cruz and
transform them into rich cultural areas where the people strive for a
better life.
I intend to make it the work of my life to achieve these goals.
Future plans and development
In 2007 Luz Del Mundo received a grant from the
Andean Outreach Program
and a donation from a
Progressive Dinner Party
fundraising event, organised by former volunteer Devyn Brown. The donations were used to
finance a roof over the playground, a bathroom, classroom and office for the Centre.
We would like to offer our thanks to both these organisations for their support.
The plans for this year are to purchase the land currently used by Luz Del Mundo,
the purchase has now been agreed and should be finalised in mid-2008.
We are grateful to Andy Kennedy (UK) and Kristen Hawkinson (USA) amongst others for their donations
which have helped in achieving this big step forward for the Centre.
We are still looking to raise funds in 2008, firstly to complete the purchase of the land
and secondly to develop and improve the existing infrastructure at the Centre.
Mary Sear - Launched the LDM Volunteer program in July 2006
I spent several months travelling in South America earlier this year
(2006) and during that time I became involved
with the Luz Del Mundo organisation firstly as a volunteer and then in
trying to increase awareness and promote the centre worldwide.
Santa Cruz de la Sierra is a city in the centre of Bolivia, one of South
America’s poorest countries. It is the second biggest city in Bolivia after
La Paz and it also happens to be the richest city in the country.
At Luz Del Mundo you will see a slightly different side to Santa Cruz.
The centre is located in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of the city and
you will hear warnings from local people about the dangers of venturing
into this part of town. We encourage volunteers to generally dress-down
and not draw attention to themselves when working or travelling to the
centre. None of our volunteers have had any problems so far and obviously we are
keen to keep it that way.
The centre itself is a very basic building; in fact I would call it a
shed, no walls, no paving, the children sit on the dirt and when it rains, in
the mud. They do have some tables and chairs, but kids being kids they don’t like
to sit still for too long.
One thing we do have quite a lot of is learning materials that have been
donated, many of which are interactive and very useful.
There are 52 children registered in the Luz Del Mundo organisation,
30 boys and 22 girls ranging in age from 1 to 14 years. We have older
siblings taking care of younger siblings and missing their own childhood.
The younger ones generally play together and they are all very lovely,
expressive and friendly children.
There are approximately 16 children who attend regularly, all without
parents and all living well below the basic living conditions that a minimum
Bolivian wage would provide them with. By interacting with foreign
volunteers we hope to broaden the children's horizons and show/teach them
something new.
Max Rubin - Volunteer Coordinator
We need volunteers to help with teaching English
and we would also welcome volunteers with a background in music, theatre
or any other skills that could help our organisation.
It’s not essential that volunteers are qualified teachers, we would prefer native English speakers
for teaching English, however a high level of English as a second language would be OK. The level
of the kids is very basic and one of the most important things that they learn is pronunciation
since in many cases these classes are the only chance they get at hearing English when they don’t
have television or stereos in their homes.
The hours are flexible, however during the weekdays the mornings are best since the children
go to school around midday, on the weekends any hours are suitable. Generally the work is
about 2 hours per day teaching. After two hours the kids start to lose concentration.
Volunteers should be aware that while working with us they may be the only foreign volunteer on-site.
Volunteers need to be independent and capable of organising their own work, unsupervised.
We would prefer volunteers to have basic Spanish speaking skills and we would like you to
stay with us for at least 4 weeks, though it's not essential.
Costs
Volunteer assistance is very much appreciated and there are no fees or participation costs
to volunteer with us. However volunteers will need to organise and pay for their own accommodation and
support themselves financially while working with us.
A ballpark figure for living costs in Santa Cruz is USD$70 per week.
Apply
Although we can answer any specific questions you may have,
we can only accept volunteer applications from people who are
already in Bolivia or those on the road in a neighbouring country.
Please note that we are a grass-roots organisation and we can't
take volunteer 'bookings' weeks/months ahead of time.
To apply to be a volunteer, please write and let us know:
o A few lines about yourself
o When you are going to arrive
o How long you can stay
o What you can help us with
We can accommodate between 1 and 3 (maximum) volunteers at any one time.
On arrival in Santa Cruz, we suggest you book into hostel jodanga:
www.jodanga.com
Luz Del Mundo is a 20 minute bus ride from the centre of town. Long term volunteers can arrange
a low-cost homestay - talk to locals after arriving in Santa Cruz.
To find out more about volunteering with us, please contact Max Rubin:
volunteerldm@gmail.com
More Luz Del Mundo Photos |
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Learning Colours with Gabriela
Mary; English Class
Luz Del Mundo - Jul 2006
Our Place
Meanwhile the little ones play
Thanks!
More Luz Del Mundo Photos |
