Building a Playground for the Community of Tomoroco

Group photo of many of the volunteers who worked on the park

Group photo of many of the volunteers who worked on the park

In the year 2013, former Volunteer Coordinator Zannah Pierce began plans for a playground in the town of Tomoroco in which Biblioworks established a library on the grounds of the community school in May of 2013.  This impoverished, rural community had no parks or community spaces and so we wanted to create a space in which children could express themselves through active play, where families could gather, and in order to make the library a more inviting place that meets the needs of the community.   It took months of fundraising, communication with architects, town officials, and consulting numerous sources surrounding health and safety to ensure that all activities on the playground were viable, secure, and would make a positive long-term impact on the community. 

On the 30th of March through the 1st of April, after months of working with city-wide and municipal officials,  we were able to carry out the building of the playground in the village of Tomoroco!  READ MORE

A VISIT TO PAMPA ACEITUNO

Anja, our new volunteer from Luxembourg, with the kindergarten class in Pampa Aceituno.

Anja, our new volunteer from Luxembourg, with the kindergarten class in Pampa Aceituno.

Last week, I had the great pleasure of visiting our library in the community of Pampa Aceituno, a school library located 30 minutes away from Sucre. Anja, our newest volunteer, first helped the students with their reading skills, teaching them to anunciate and to express punctuation, then taught a short English lesson on the colors. It was a wonder to behold the children’s eagerness to learn and the way Anja worked with them. This is truly the soul of volunteering.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE VOLUNTEER

In the city of Sucre, the National Council for Volunteering (CONABOL) of the Chuquisaca región held a special event to reward all the volunteers that have worked one or more years to improve the quality of life of people and animals that we are involved with: they are people who are “all heart”.

The BiblioWorks foundation participated in this award ceremony, presenting the Taylor Family: Yuval Taylor, Karen Duys, Thalía Taylor and Jack Taylor, who have worked in the Yamparáea community library “Virgen de Guadalupe”, helping the librarian with the book club activities and running English classes.

Taylor Family working with children in the library Yamparáez

Taylor Family working with children in the library Yamparáez

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DÍA DEL VOLUNTARIO INTERNACIONAL

En la ciudad de Sucre, el Consejo Nacional del Voluntariado (CONABOL) Capítulo Chuquisaca, realizó un acto especial para premiar a todos los voluntarios que trabajan igual o más de 1 año para mejorar la calidad de vida de las personas y animales con las que intervienen, son “personas todo corazón”.

La Fundación BiblioWorks participó en esta premiación presentando a la Familia Taylor: Yuval Taylor, Karen Duys, Thalía Taylor y Jacky Taylor que realizan su trabajo en la biblioteca “Virgen de Guadalupe” en la comunidad de Yamparáez, apoyando a la bibliotecaria en las actividades del club de lectura y dictando clases de inglés.

Familia Taylor trabajando con los niños en la biblioteca de Yamparáez

Familia Taylor trabajando con los niños en la biblioteca de Yamparáez

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THE CLOSE OF THE ´CARA A CARA´ PROJECT

The ´Cara a Cara´ project undertaken with the children from the library ´Kiskaluru´ in Tomina and with working children who sell the Inti magazine at the Plaza 25 Mayo in Sucre has successfully finished.

The results obtained are good, with the children learning about how to be good leaders in their home, school, and work as is the case of the Inti children. Now each child can put these skills to practice in their daily lives.

They have also learnt about self-esteem and to love themselves and others, which has really helped the children to accept themselves. They have demonstrated all their achievements with ease, without fear of the others that make fun of them, and in addition they have learnt to recognize their flaws and how they can change these flaws into virtues.

  Niñas de la biblioteca Kiskaluru trabajando el tema de autoestima

The children have strengthened their reading habits, and undertaken productions for the Inti magazine, including writing stories, legends, poems, and drawing illustrations.

                                                    Niña compartiendo un té en el cierre del proyecto Cara a Cara

The closing took place with a party, where they all shared delicious snacks, cake, chocolate, and enjoyed the toys that came in their bags.

 

Cierre del Proyecto “Cara a Cara”

El proyecto “Cara a Cara” que se realizó con los niños de la biblioteca “Kiskaluru” de la comunidad de Tomina y los niños trabajadores de la calle que venden la Revista Inti en la Plaza 25 de Mayo de la ciudad de Sucre concluyó satisfactoriamente.

Los resultados que se obtuvieron son buenos, los niños aprendieron sobre cómo ser buenos líderes dentro de su hogar, escuela, trabajo como es el caso de los niños Inti. Ahora cada uno lo pone en práctica en su diario vivir.

Niños trabajando el tema de liderazgo

Niños trabajando el tema de liderazgo

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Concurso de lectura “Leer, pensar y reflexionar”

Primer Concurso de Lectura Comprensiva en Maragua

Proyectos sometidos a calificación

Proyectos sometidos a calificación

La biblioteca escolar de Maragua bajo la iniciativa de promover el desarrollo del pensamiento crítico y el buen uso del lenguaje, tanto en la expresión oral como escrita en niños y adolescentes estudiantes de la Unidad Educativa,  lanzó el primer  concurso de lectura comprensiva durante el mes de septiembre.READ MORE

‘BiblioWorks’ por Andrea de Zaigua

morado
La biblioteca en Morada Q’asa

La idea de ampliar los horizontes de una comunidad de posibilidades limitadas, empoderar a su gente a través de libros, mostrándoles el mundo por medio de la lectura; eso y más es lo que ha hecho Biblioworks desde sus inicios hace ocho años.

BiblioWorks es una organización sin fines de lucro que a través de la oferta de bibliotecas y espacios culturales da una oportunidad de fortalecimiento a las comunidades rurales de Chuquisaca, Bolivia.READ MORE

Learning to Love to Read: Children’s Book Clubs

Part of BiblioWorks’ strategic plan is to involve local elementary teachers in efforts to promote reading by creating or improving children’s book clubs in our libraries. We’re very happy to report that after a training session for librarians and teachers, children’s book clubs are now running successfully in Sopachuy, Morado Q’asa, Tarabuco, Tomina, Presto and Yamparáez.

volunteer works with children in Bolivia

Creating a ‘tongue map’

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Building Sandcastles on a Bolivian Beach

The area surrounding Morado K’asa is exceptionally dry, especially during the winter months. Even so, a tiny oasis hides tucked away between the hills. A previous volunteer wrote about stumbling upon the tiny stream that creates a small pool in which the children love to swim. Well, this Thursday, I got to visit the small mayu (“river” in Quechua) as well. I expected it to be lovely, if small. I didn’t expect the hours of fun that ensued. Bolivia has no coastline, but with a little imagination and the enthusiasm of three little girls, a visit to the small river transformed into a day at the beach!Morado Mayu READ MORE

Bilingual Education in Morado K’asa

Hi, I’m Jennifer, from the US! I’m spending June and most of July running a Club de Lectura in the small town of Morado K’asa, Bolivia. In addition from my work in the library, I have had the opportunity to help out at the primary school in Morado K’asa, running an activity on valores (values) for the kids in sixth grade.

morado school

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Beyond Access membership

We hope to make our libraries stronger through being part of this exciting initiative

We hope to make our libraries stronger through being part of this exciting initiative

Beyond Access. BiblioWorks is extremely happy to announce that we have been accepted into the international network of libraries and library organizations, Beyond Access believes in the power of libraries to drive development and impact communities. It is an international initiative of different private and public organizations and currently has 30 members around the developing world. READ MORE

Allen Singleton
Featured Library: Padilla
To be inaugurated in June 2016
BiblioWorks’ 13th library
4 hours from Sucre
Learn More...