Hello! We would like to share with you an opportunity we have to serve for one year in Chocabumba, Bolivia with International Teams. We will be working at an after school center.
The Center is open on Tues-Fri afternoons and the ages of the kids range from about 3 to 16. We will be joining eight full-time workers. Two of those employees are paid and the other six are missionaries (four of those missionaries are Bolivian, one Canadian, and one American). The actual name of the Center in Spanish is "El Centro de Amistad y Apoyo" (Center of friendship and support). It is financially supported through the people that work there. The mission of the center is to be a place where kids can come to learn more about God and the Bible, get help with homework, gain more skills in language, math and English but also have fun! Since it is in a poorer neighborhood of the city and kids who attend tend to deal with various hardships it serves another purpose by giving the kids stability and love. The Bolivian school system is not very good; teachers are overworked and classes are over-crowded. Because of this many kids don't receive the best education and many are moved along to the next grade without having actually passed the previous grade. The Center is so important to these kids for reasons like this because it comes alongside them and tries to help them succeed in school. There are classes in Christian formation, math, language, English as well as recreation and snack time. There is a library always open during Center hours to give kids one-on-one homework help. There are various special events throughout the year such as field trips, tournaments, organized games and birthday celebrations. The goals of the Center are to teach and help the kids to thrive spiritually, emotionally and physically but also to connect them with the church that meets on Sunday in the same space. The name of the church is "Yo Soy" (I Am) which is based on the verse John 4:26 when Jesus told the woman at the well that he is the messiah.
