The Friends International Bilingual Center (FIBC) is a Bolivian program that offers educational programs for children, young people, and adults in la Paz, Bolivia. Their programming is focused around human value and Quaker principles, and participants experience spiritual and intellectual growth centered in the belief that there is that of God in everyone.
The Quaker community in Bolivia was founded in 1919. Most Bolivian Friends belong to the Aymara indigenous community, located in the high-altitude Altiplano region. Recently Quakerism has moved to the lowland regions too.
Two Mickleton Meeting Friends from the PYM community, Emily Blanck and Julia Carrigan (Sessions Coordinating Committee and Young Friends clerks, respectively) spent some time at FIBC this past spring. As they shared emailed stories of their time in Bolivia, Emily told PYM, “Our experience in Bolivia was transformative. I feel lucky that we could … actually understand their work first hand. I’m in awe of what the Center is accomplishing.”
FIBC offers after school programs for children of all ages. This includes lessons in English and classes that are provided on-site and in school. Aside from teaching a language that offers children a wider sense of the world, the critical cognitive benefits of learning a language, and greater job opportunities, later on, the school’s ‘heart and spirit’ is to provide students a happy place for socializing, play, and being heard.
Emily and Julia spent two afternoons at the Center working with the children and teaching them games. Emma Condori-Mamani reports that children do not get much playtime at home and are therefore excited to spend extended time at the Center. The Center has found ways to merge play and language acquisition so as to foster high-impact interactive learning.
Bolivia has felt a deepening and progressive impact of climate change as glaciers melt and are not recharged with precipitation. The city of La Paz’s water supply from aquifers is now very limited and people experience water cut-offs for days at a time. FIBC has taken the initiative to build and install rainwater bio-sand filters with the help of a team of young adults. This ensures an additional source of water for some families by making rainwater safe for consumption. Filter building workshops not only help families, but the workshops themselves become a place of employment and community for men and women who connect as they work there.
Last year, PYM published a story about Emma’s experiences in the US as she ‘shared her Quaker light’ from Bolivia during our annual sessions. Since then, COVID-19 has deeply impacted both her work and the Center’s programming.
Last year, PYM published a story about Emma’s experiences in the US as she ‘shared her Quaker light’ from Bolivia during our annual sessions. Since then, COVID-19 has deeply impacted both her work and the Center’s programming.
Visit centrobilingueinternacionalamigos.org to connect with Bolivian Friends’ concerns and keep up to date with Emma’s work.
Emily and Julia received grants from PYM’s Travel & Witness Granting Group to financially support their travel.
