A final word from Bolivia












The football season here recently reached a closing point with the Cup Final between the Cochabamba team Wilstermann and Real Potosí (a very distant relation of Real Madrid!). After three hours respectably waiting in a queue for tickets we abandoned our principles and discreetly negotiated with a nearby tout for preferential tickets at only double the advertised price of about £3. By the following day people were paying seven times the ticket price!





It was a great game and the home side celebrated a 2-1 victory in great style. Stadium security took a rather more relaxed attitude to smoke machines, fireworks and firecrackers than their European counterparts even if the stadium police were kitted out for full scale national revolution!








As the football season draws to a close here so does language school and students are preparing for their mission and voluntary work across the Americas. It has been inspiring meeting people of all ages and backgrounds all with a common goal of giving some or all of their life to work in areas of need across the continent.






I leave Bolivia with many great memories of this experience: a warm and generous people with a great love of celebrating, a spectacular country with an enormous variety of landscapes and natural features, a people looking for a new way forward after so much past tragedy for so many.

Summit of South American Nations



Cochabamba lies at the very heart of South America and its location no doubt had much to do with its being chosen to host the 2nd Summit of the nations of South America. Although integration and cooperation between member states are still at an early stage, there is great hope for South America to become a much more unified economic trading block. For a few days here people became accustomed to great motorcades sweeping through the City and Cochabamba had a further splash of colour from the arrival of indigenous groups from across the Continent for a parallel summit in the City’s football stadium. For much of its history South America has been blighted by wars and disputes between its member states, but who knows what strength and prosperity the Continent could have if nations united and cooperate more in the future?