It all began with 400 books being donated to NC Partners of the Americas from the Appalachian State University’s library department. 400 children’s books in Spanish. What was Partners of the Americas supposed to do with these books? One could write a Pixote literacy grant and, in July 2018, go to Bolivia with four suitcases and teach literacy workshops at Centro De Apoyo Integral Carcelario y Communitario and Biblioteca Thurchapitas, the only children’s library in Bolivia.
In Bolivia, most reading is done on Kindle. The public University of San Simon has a large library but there is only one public library in Cochabamba.
Former teachers dubbed “The Dangerous Women”, led by writer Gaby Vallejo, make the most of the resources they have. They travel to remote, rural areas., giving households a bag of books to share with the families. The children of these remote places gather when the buses come and are overjoyed.
The women were dubbed” dangerous” by a man when he saw them sitting in a field reading to children in one of these remote areas and the nickname stuck. Knowledge is power, after all. In Cochabamba, the kids go out in public plazas and ask adults if they can read their favorite books to them. As a person who worries about the future of reading, watching children share and read their favorite books made my heart skip.
I gave writing workshops with the books at two sites: Biblioteca Thurchapitas and CAICC , The association of Association Civil Hamiraya Centro de Apoyo Integral Carcelario y Comunitario is an all-volunteer run school for students who have to live in fe-male prisons. In Bolivia, there is no social service infrastructure to house these children and the government only pays for the children’s meals. Like many things in Bolivia, CAICC is all volunteer-run and is a respite for the children living in
A female prison. They continue to run their program through donations and if you are interested in donating or learning more, please click here.
– Virginia Freedman