A Diet of Starch

A common theme throughout Bolivia is the value of potatoes. Almost every meal, dish, and soup has some form of potatoes. Since a large geographical portion of Bolivia is in the Altiplano or mountain region there is a limit to the type and variety of produce and vegetables that can be grown. Much of the region is at high elevation and the brutal climate at 9,000 - 13,000 ft does not accommodate a diversity in agriculture. Thus, making the highly adaptable tuber (yes that is an official category of food), the potato, a cash crop of many communities. The problem with such abundance and lack of variety is that many people literally live on a diet of potatos. They can cook a wicked good dish with potatoes (fried, grilled, roasted, deep fried, oven baked, boiled, freeze dried, chopped, diced, sliced, mashed... you name it) but they have no idea how to use a stem of broccoli or some green beans in a meal. You can't go more than a few steps in the market without seeing a vender with a bucket or bag of potatoes they are selling. The picture above gives you an idea of this phenomena.

A Taste of the Bolivian Countryside

The past few weeks John has had the opportunity to visit the various work zones where FH Sucre is currently working. These zones are sprinkled across the countryside and typically 2, 3 or 4 hours away. Initially John will be working out of the central office in Sucre and in the neighboring suburb called Horna C’Kasa. However, starting in July, John will begin visiting several of these locations on a monthly basis to strengthen relations with pastors and begin implementing training on Biblical principles and wholistic ministry concepts. Many of these villages are tucked in the mountains of Bolivia and a rugged 3 hour ride across, alpaca pastures, rocky cliffs, and flowing rivers away. You definitely can’t consider half of the paths anything close to a road! The villages however, are filled with a unique countryside charm and the people (though Quecha speakers) are often very gracious and welcoming. Below are a few pictures and a brief description of the villages.

The flowers of Tomoyo. Tomoyo is a village located in a fertile plain between the mountains. Currently FH is working with 2 churches in Tomoyo and is training farmers with a large agriculture and live stock project.

Village stream outside of the FH Tomoyo office

FH Tomoyo office. The best mode of transportation through the mountains is via dirt bike.

This is a view out my window as we travel up the mountain from Tomoyo to Ravelo. Yes this is the road and the bridge all in one.

Our FH vehicle. The SUV's never come back the same color they left.

View from the road to Ravelo.

Village street in Ravelo. In a few short months this will be the home for the Hope Church team!! Yeah we can't wait!

FH office in Ravelo.

Up the mountain even further to Ckda Ckda and Ocuri.

View of the mountains from Ocuri. Ocuri is at an elevation of 13,500ft. One of the highest villages in the world.

The FH office in Ckda Ckda and Ocuri. Better bring a parka if you plan to sleep in Ckda Ckda. The weather at 13,000ft is quite cold and unpredictable. Projects in this region include, church strengthening, health and nutrition, and agriculture. At this elevation you really can't grow anything but potatoes so the families struggle greatly with health and nutritional problems.

The following pictures were taken on another journey to Chiuqisaca Central. Chiuqisaca Central is at a significantly lower elevation than Sucre, thus the landscape is lush and the climate warm.

Street view from the village of Padilla. FH assists in a variety of irrigation and agriculture projects in this region.

The village of Sopacuay. FH just began a partnership with a church in Sopacuay. John will be making occasional trips here to meet with the church pastor and leaders to facilitate training's on Biblical principles.

City square in Sopacuay. It's a beautiful little town.

"Christ Is My Lord Church" in Sopacuay. Here is will John will be spending a little time over the next few years.

Family Visits!

We were blessed to have our first visitors from home! John's parents, John and Roseann Warden, came to stay with us for 2 1/2 weeks. It was so fun to share our new world here with them. Of course, Ella was especially excited to have her Grandparents here.

We were able to show them how everyday life runs for us here in Sucre. We showed them the markets, stores, and parks. We were also able to visit several museums and other tourist places. That was extra fun for us as well because we hadn't taken the time to see some of those things. They were great sports in taking the public transportation (micros), as you can see below! The micros can get a little tight sometimes!

John and Roseann were also able to go with John to work a few mornings to see first hand the ministry that we are doing here, and meet the people we are working with. They were able to meet their sponsored children face to face and spend time with their families, which was really special. One Sunday we attended the Shekina Church, run by Pastor Elvis (black hair yes, side burns no...). John has been working closely with this church for the past few months and we have grown close with the kids that attend there. After the service we took a group picture with everyone who was there that Sunday. As you can see, the church is made up of mostly youth. It's really hard to reach the adult population here as they are so ingrained in their animistic religions. We are trying to empower these kids to know that they have the potential within them to change their generation.

Over Easter break we took a trip to see Lake Titicaca in Copacabana Bolivia, with an overnight stop in La Paz. John and Roseann really got a taste of what travel is like in Bolivia. We arrived to the Sucre airport around 10 am for our 11:15 am flight to La Paz. When we got there, we learned that they had changed the flight to 2:30 pm, two week ago! Normally the travel agency that you book your tickets through notifies you of these kinds of changes, however they must have forgot this time! So we made the decision to just wait it out at the airport instead of paying for taxis back to our house. 2:30 pm came and gone and we were still waiting for our flight to arrive. Finally, we boarded and took off around 3:45 pm. After spending the night in La Paz, we boarded a bus for a 4 hour ride to Copacabana. The bus ride was surprisingly pleasant as the landscape of the altiplano and mountains were spectacular. Three hours into our trek, we came to a port along Lake Titicaca that we needed to ferry across. The whole process was fascinating. All the passengers were unloaded from the bus and then ferried across the strait. The empty buses were also ferried across on little wood "barges."

Once the barge was full, 3-4 men with big sticks would push the barge from the dock, out onto the lake. (This was not an easy job as you can see in the video below!)

You can see below that they put two more cars on with the semi! I hope that last car has a good parking brake as it's just inches from rolling off.

Finally, we arrived at Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The Lake is incredibly beautiful and actually quite large. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America (115 miles long and 50 miles wide) and the highest navigable lake in the world (12,500 ft in elevation). Known for its Inca history Lake Titicaca has several historical sites as well as spectacular views. The Andes mountains frame many views of the lake and the sun sets across the water at this elevation are magnificent. It was a great way to end our time with John and Roseann as well as a beautiful reminder of God's spectacular artistry. Their trip here to Bolivia was a blessing and we had a great time together!