Meet the Team

Last week we officially started the project work. The 12 of us are split between 2 projects the first called Mosoj Yan and and the second Oesser. We are all extremely passionate about the incredible work that is being done by the project partners and so thought this would be a good opportunity to go into some detail about what they are doing. 

TEAM MOSOJ YAN

Lorna (Team Leader), Hayley, Emily, Laura, Elspeth and Amil

Mosoj Yan work with girls who either work or live on the streets of Cochabamba or alternatively have experienced sexual or physical abuse in the past. The 6 of us are spread between 3 Mosoj Yan Centres; The Restoration Centre, The Working Girls Centre, and The Motivation Centre.

The Restoration Centre (Hayley and Elspeth)

The restoration centre is a beautiful house which acts a safe haven for girls who have experienced physical, sexual and psychological abuse. The girls are between 13 and 18 years old and at present there are 14 living in the centre. This centre protects the girls whilst supporting and empowering them through educational activities and therapies. During their time volunteering at this centre Hayley and Els will be teaching English, running workshops and helping with the general running of the centre. 

The Working Girls Centre: (Emily and Lorna)

This centre is more of a preventative centre. It offers children who work on the streets, but who may still live at home, the opportunity to come off the streets and take part in educational activities and workshops. These workshops can be anything from teaching the children their rights to lessons on personal hygiene. Emily and Lorna will be supporting the educators, running workshops and helping with the running of the centres.

Sadly many of children who live on the streets of Cochabamba are addicted to glue sniffing and other drugs. The children who are sent out to work on the streets by their parents often end up associating with these children, start sniffing glue themselves and as a result end up living on the streets. The working girl centre therefore is vital as it helps to support and encourage young girls towards education and away from drugs and all its associations.

The Motivation Centre: (Laura and Amil)

The motivation centre works with girls who actually are living on the streets at the present. Laura and Amil will be going out with people from the centre to meet the girls on the streets, motivate and build relationships with them and encourage them to come back to the centre. The centre provides facilities for them to clean themselves, wash their clothes and take part in various workshops.

If you have a moment we would recommend having a look at this video. It gives a clear picture of the struggles street children in Bolivia are facing.

Children become street children when the street becomes their mother.

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3/5 women in Bolivia have been sexually abused – 97% of which have not been announced.

TEAM OESER:

Preye, Amy, Vicky (Team Leader), Vanessa, Laeticia, Alex.

OESER is an organisation that provides education to disadvantaged children who live in and around the city of Cochabamba. Some of the children OESER works with come from the Cochabamba prison. By including them in lessons OESER hopes to help them experience life outside of the prison and integrate them into society. An important part of Bolivian culture is belonging to a group. Whether it is a friendship group or family group, inclusion is essential for success.  By allowing these children to build relationships with others from outside the prison, it means they will be able to forge strong friendships in the future.  The team will be assisting with the teaching of lessons in many areas such as English and Physical Education. We will also be running youth clubs which provide a safe and secure environment for local children to have fun and make friends. The team will teach both the children and local volunteers new skills and activities with the hope that, once our 10 weeks is up, we will have made a positive impact on the running of OESER and the lives of the children who attend.

Another massive part of our work out here will be with an HIV/AIDS project that raises awareness and educates locals. Amongst other things, we will be handing out leaflets and running workshops for young people in the community.

We are only the second ICS team to work OESER so there are still a lot of relationships to be formed between ICS team members, Tearfund and OESER. We are really looking forward to developing these further.