Give the Gift of Education to Bolivian Girls

We are all so happy and proud to see two of our students achieve their goals. Thanks to Helping Hands, Ruth graduated in Early Childhood Education at the Instituto Balaguer. She is very pleased to have been able to finish her career in spite of the pandemic. Ruth is now ready to start working with children which is her dream come true. 

Luz Maria has finished her coursework in Business Administration in Tourism, Hotel Management and Gastronomy at the UNICEN University. She would like to return to the Amazon area of Bolivia which is her home and work in the tourism industry there.  She is now well prepared to make her dream come true and provide a better future for her family. 

Congratulations on their well-deserved achievement! 

                                        STUDENTS GIVE A HELPING HAND

September  is volunteer month at Helping Hands.  All of our students engage in a volunteer service of their choosing. The majority of our volunteers reported that even helping out with the smallest tasks can make a real difference in the lives of people in need, in the community around us and to the lives of abandoned animals.  Giving food to the homeless, picking up garbage from the streets and feeding street dogs were some of the choices they made.

                                         GIVING FOOD TO PEOPLE IN NEED

“While helping the homeless, I could see the satisfaction in their eyes when they received the snack. It was a wonderful experience for me to know that with a small gesture of solidarity and love we can make some people happy. I hope I will have the means to do this more often.”

Luzmila

                                                    PICKING UP TRASH

“My brothers and I decided to collect garbage and clean up a dirty square near where we live. We put the garbage in bags and waited for the garbage truck to take them away. I felt very happy to be able to do something for my neighborhood.”

Yhail

                                               FEEDING STREET DOGS

"Where I live, it is normal to see dogs in the streets, parks and squares. Although none of the dogs have owners, I think we as neighbors should take some responsibility for the dogs. Giving them some food is the least I could have done.”

Sergio

Thank you all so very much for the support for our Christmas Baskets.  We have now reached our goal to give each student Christmas bread, cocoa, powdered milk, cookies and a gift. 

Looking ahead to 2022, through GlobalGiving, Helping Hands will be joining the worldwide GivingTuesday Campaign,  November 30^th and we will be sending out a reminder a couple of days before.   During this one day campaign all donations will receive an incentive, or matching, which in 2020 reached 33% of the donations that day.  This is a great day for sponsors to send funds for their students for 2022 as the amount donated will be increased considerably. 

Donations are always welcome at the following links: 

https://bit.ly/3n1R9P3

https://bit.ly/2XjTFY0

At Helping Hands we consider workshops very important for our students. They are informative, improve communication skills, impart knowledge, keep us connected with others and renew our motivation. Due to COVID-19, these workshops are currently being held online. 

In July the workshop “Leaders and Pseudo-leaders” was led by Walter.  He told us about what skills leaders should develop and how anyone can develop these leadership skills.

                                        IS A LEADER BORN OR MADE?

Our August workshop, “And that’s how our scientific career starts,” was held by the Biologist Erika. This workshop was designed for our young high school students between the ages 12 and 18. Erika showed the students that science is advancing at a rapid pace, and the job market in this area is expected to grow fast.  Science is a diverse, far-reaching, challenging, and endlessly-fascinating  field. 

                                                   SCIENCE IS FASCINATING

Our September workshop “Personal Development and Values Toward Permanent Success”. was held by Gerson Alvarez. We chose this important topic since we know that personal growth can help our young students in all areas of their life. It will help them grow emotionally and psychologically to become a more loving, compassionate, and positive person. Gerson did a good job of motivating us to bring out the best in ourselves. 

                                               PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

WE INVITE YOU TO WATCH OUR LATEST VIDEO ABOUT OUR TWINS DEIVID AND DANIEL WHO LIVE IN THE ALTIPLANO.

CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER!! 
We are so very proud of Carina, Cesar and Junior. With the support of Helping Hands, Carina graduated in Biochemistry at the prestigious state university here in La Paz. She has now won a scholarship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to do her Doctoral studies. Cesar has now officially graduated as an Electromechanical Engineer at the same state university, the UMSA. And last Friday July 2, Yunior successfully defended his thesis with a grade of 95% in Petroleum Engineering, again at the UMSA. Well deserved!!

PAYING IT BACK
During the pandemic many of our elementary students have had difficulty keeping up with new material online and so several of our older students and a volunteer, Camila, have been supporting them with extra tutoring. Thank you Lizeth, Cesar and Camila for the extra support. Israel is completing his 3 months of internship in our office helping Fabiola and Janneth with their many duties. Thanks for the support, Israel.

So many new students this year!! We have accepted 35 new students. Maybe you would like to get onboard and take on a new student. Please visit the Sponsorship page of our website.
Sponsorships or one time donations to help provide for our supplementary food baskets and internet access for students are always so welcome on our GlobalGiving website. THANK YOU!!

Visit the Altiplano!
Maria Salas, our Social Worker, and Fabiola, our Accountant, took a trip to the countryside to visit three of our younger students there, Daniel and Deivis, who are twins, and Lucy from the same village. Take a trip to the Bolivan countryside by watching this super video!!

GETTING BACK TO WORK:
The pandemic has made it so difficult for the students to find part time work to help with personal expenses. However, with a little determination Luzmila has found work taking care of elderly patients, Gilda has found a spot to perform her internship in the countryside, Sara is now working part time at a pastry shop and Oscar found agricultural work. Stay positive!

LET’S ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER:
During the month of May our students all wrote notes for one another to lift our spirits during the third wave of the pandemic.
Maicol says, “Don’t forget to use your face mask because we are waiting for you at home.” 
Nataniela says, “Let’s maintain the hope that we will come out of this pandemic together.”

OUR WORKSHOPS:
In April we learned about “MANAGING OUR FINANCES” given by Vierca, our new Programme director.

In May we had two workshops “Prevention of Violence” given by Sra. Silvia and “How to be successful on entering the labour market,” presented by Lic. Walter. Both workshops held the attention of the students and they had many questions about finding a job.

In June we continued the workshop on “The Prevention of Violence” which was well presented by the Sra. Silvia.