“IMPLEMENTATION OF A PUBLIC LIBRARY

IN THE COMMUNITY OF YAMPARAEZ”

Center for Agricultural Services Chuquisaca

CE.S.A.T.CH.

Our Mission is:

To help families in rural areas to realize their economic and productive potential and to improve their conditions of health and education, at the same time promoting knowledge and practices that express their own World vision.

Since 1998, CESATCH has been developing activities in education and health in a variety of areas in the Department of Chuquisaca, including supporting Peace Corps volunteers in a greenhouse construction project in two schools in the communities of San Jose de Toca and Rosas Pampa and another Peace Corps project in bee-keeping in the community of Morado K’asa. CESATCH offers technical assistance in animal health to 32 communities in the Municipality of Presto, also a nutrition project in the Municipality of Tarabuco, with the objective of improving health and nutrition in general. With the support of the British Embassy, CESATCH also built 70 family-use water storage tanks in three communities. Currently the organization is working on a health project aimed at nine communities in the Municipality of Tarabuco, with the objective of increasing the amount of health assistance available through the equipping of two health posts and the construction of 130 greenhouses to improve the production of vegetables in the household. Also, in the past year CESATCH collaborated with BiblioWorks to implement the Presto Community Library and the donation of computers to the Cororo High School.

Centro de Servicios Agropecuarios Técnicos de Chuquisaca

Address: Zona San Pablo

Calle Belice # 350

Telefone: 64-42685

Fax: 6913570

PO Box: 768

E-mail: cesatch@entelnet.bo, cesatch@cesatch.org

web: www.cesatch.org

Víctor Menchaca Cabero

DIRECTOR CE.S.A.T.CH.

b. Project Identification

The project will be located in the community of Yamparaez, political seat for the Municipality of Yamparaez, about 30 kilometers northwest of Sucre, capital of Bolivia, in the Department of Chuquisaca. The road is asphalted and the trip takes about 25 minutes in a personal vehicle.

Initially the library will be functioning in the old Mayor’s office, from there the Municipal Government will be building a larger infrastructure to accommodate the library’s needs.

The project will have a time span of six months from October 2006 to March 2007.

* The Municipal Government has budgeted in their annual operating costs a total of 11,900 bolivianos to put towards the library project.

The Municipality of Yamparaez has a population of 10,013 habitants (source: INE population and housing census 2001), with a total of 44 communities. The illiteracy rate for the Municipality of Yamparaez for persons older than 15 years of age, is at 58.6 % and the human development index is at 0.480 % (source: Human Development Index).

The community of Yamparaez is very concentrated, the streets narrow and paved with sidewalks. The houses are constructed of adobe with tile roofs and cement floors. The majority of the population in this community has basic services, including water, electricity, and septic tanks.

The community has one school and one high school. There is also a primary Health Clinic in Yamparaez and eight other health posts located throughout the Municipality.

Economic Activity of the Municipality

The economy of the majority of the habitants of Yamparaez is based on agricultural production; the principal products are (in order of importance: corn, barley, and potato. The community members also sell their livestock during the dry season, to further generate income for the family.

Political Situation

According to the “Participación Popular” law, every municipality must have Municipal Government, recognized by the Bolivian Federal Government, to support the social development of that municipality. That government is made up of a Mayor and a Council with five members and a President, all elected democratically by vote.

Customs and Traditions

In the Province of Yamparaez, the majority of the population is “quechua” and their first language is quechua, having their origins in the pre-Hispanic “ayllu” culture.

The celebrations of rituals and the customs of the communities are very important parts in the lives of the people – times that bring all of the community together to share their joy. In reality, every community activity of this sort is actually a celebration of the community itself. Celebrations include: the inauguration of new mayors and other authorities, and religious and annual festivals such as Carnival, and All Saints Day. These festivals are accompanied with music, dancing, the sharing of food and drink specific to that area, and the exchange of gifts.

The principal festivals of Yamparaez include the following:

Principal Festivals in Yamparaez

The rituals that are performed for the planting and harvesting of crops are done in devotion to “Pachamama”, or Mother Earth, who is responsible for the fertility of the soils. For the festival of the “Virgen del Rosario”, there is a running of the bulls.

The Municipality currently receives the support of three organizations:

Presently the school kids and the population in general do not have access to a library or even a space where they can find a book to reference for their studies. The little income that the families do have is used for the purchase of household food and agricultural products. A very small part of the income is used for educational supplies such as notebooks, pencils, and a uniform for their kids to go to school in. In the end, the lack of resources for the purchase of books that the teachers require in their classes causes many students to drop out.

The Province of Yamparaez has a very high level of illiteracy for those older than 15 years of age at 58.6 %, while the illiteracy rate for the Municipality of Yamparaez is a little bit lower at 43.4% (PNUD-UDAPSO, 1997).

A library in this community can potentially benefit 13 educational establishments that form part of the Educational Nucleus “Eduardo Sempertegui”, all located at an average distance of 6 kilometers from the population of Yamparaez:

Benefiting Communities and Establishments

The majority of the educational establishments have basic infrastructure, but it is noted that there does not exist sufficient didactic material for teaching.

The library will be a very important and essential instrument in improving the education of the children, the adolescents, adults, and the community at large. Through the provision of a variety of books and materials, the library will aid and strengthen the educational process, allowing students and adults the ability to do their homework, practical assignments, and investigations.

The library will also provide a much-needed resource for the young adults in the community of Yamparaez, where currently there exists no such space. Not only will they be able to read and study, they will also be able to be contact with modern technology and computers, even using educational games and CDs that develop their mental capacity.

In this project, the goals are to improve the learning capacity of the children and young adults, granting them free access to books and other materials in order to exercise and improve their reading and writing abilities, at the same time amplifying their knowledge.

To develop and strengthen the learning process of children, adolescents, young adults, and adults through the implementation of a public library.

The benefiting population of the project is of ethnic descent, the Quechua Culture. Those that will benefit are the kids, adolescents, young adults, and the general population of the Municipality of Yamparaez.

This population will benefit because they will be able to access a variety of books, such as children’s books, high school level books, and technical literature; they will also be able to utilize the computers to do their homework and learn from educational CDs and games.

The project will help to develop the creativity of the children; at the same time it will offer an access to bibliographic information that will facilitate the young adults in their investigative activities.

In order to achieve the project goals, the project will be supported by the Yamparaez Municipal government, the District Direction of Education, and CESATCH. Each participant will have his or her particular responsibilities and contributions in the project.

CESATCH will be responsible for the execution of the project and will have a hired technician specifically for the implementation of the project.

For the success of the project, by the end of October, all contracts will be signed. Currently, there is already a contract with the Yamparaez Municipal Govt. and the infrastructure has already been allocated within the High School. The Municipal Govt. will hire someone to be the librarian.

CESATCH will be the organization responsible for all project monitoring and ensuring that each project participant concludes their responsibilities.

CESATCH will be responsible for all project follow-ups on the functioning of the library. The Municipal Government will also be responsible for keeping a daily log of those using the library and the books most often used, which will be presented to CESATCH and then to BiblioWorks.

The evaluation of the project will be done at the half-way point of the project and at the end of the year, in order to see the amount of users in the library.

Those responsible for the sustainability of the project will be the Municipal Government and the District Direction of Education. It will also be very important the amount of people using the library, who will also be able to make suggestions towards the functioning of the library.

The Municipal Government will also be responsible for taking care of any maintenance required for part of the computers.

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