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 Newsletter of the Arkansas-East Bolivia Partners of the Americas
 Bob Frans, Ed. rfrans@uark.edu
1366 W. Altheimer Dr., Fayetteville AR 72704-6804
Phone 501-575-3978 or 443-5403, Fax 501-575-3975

  To that end, let us as Arkansas Partners, draw together in that spirit of brotherhood and solidarity in that one time of the year when we can all get together and share our commonality here in our State.  You have all received notice of the meeting to be held in Conway October 19-21.  Sue Heily and her colleagues have worked very hard to make this a successful and interesting meeting.  Please refer to the notices that you have received and be sure to send in your reservations.  The deadline was October 8, but even if you are a little late, they will accommodate you.

Our Public Relations expert Bill Millager has been busy on behalf of the meeting.  Here's a piece he sent out to various of the media recently.  Thought you might like to see it:

  We have other trips and special reports for you to peruse in this section.  The first of these is a follow-up report from Beth Washburn as a result of her Farmer to Farmer trip earlier this year.  Her report is on the long- term goals in dairy production, processing and marketing and is as follows:

"What follows is my understanding of the Farmer to Farmer vision of a long-term plan that is scheduled to be completed within two to three years.  Miguel Cortez explained this program to me in April of 2001, and Claude Gillette and I have discussed it as well.  The plan is multi-faceted and quite ambitious.  Hopefully, this will clarify the plan for you in a general way and facilitate your understanding of the situation in Santa Cruz.  For any erroneous information on my part, I apologize in advance.
 
 

  "Farmer to Farmer, as a part of the national and state partners, has worked with Bolivian dairy producers for much of the last decade to improve dairy production through the education of farmers in the areas of feed and animal management in tropical climates.  These areas involve many health-related themes such as the elimination of brucellosis.  They also address questions of breeding including artificial insemination techniques.  The program has been quite successful with the medium and large producer.  However, for myriad reasons, in reference to the small producer, the program has had very limited success.  This is due to the culture associated with the small producer.  There are cultural and linguistic barriers to be overcome.  The small producer is by and large of heavily indigenous descent and may speak Aymara or Quechua.  Even those who speak Spanish are not versed in the technical terminology used by those volunteers who have attempted to implement the above mentioned programs.  One might imagine that there are class barriers and a certain regionalism that you will find prevalent in Bolivia that also complicate the situation.  In addition, these are simple people who tend to cling stubbornly to the ways of their fathers.  The mentality being, ‘It was good enough for my father...'

  "Hence, one of the main goals of the program currently is to reach the small producer in ways that respect cultural differences as well as that address the language issue.  Xenon Flores has written and distributed small booklets in an isolated effort to reach the small producer.  He is also fluent in Quechua and has used this to his advantage in his efforts to reach the target group.  Also, Mr. Flores has spearheaded efforts to present an annual Expo in Montero that targets all producers and not just the most affluent.  I was able to visit the Expo and was quite impressed.  However, as with much that you will find in Bolivia, this is the effort of one man.  Lack of coordination of efforts can lead to confusion and wasted time and energy.  Sometimes varying groups with the same overriding goal may differ in the particulars and cause confusion and damage.  While any resulting confusion is unintended, the result is the same.

  "I believe that it is Miguel's vision to coordinate the efforts of the many to concentrate their effectiveness in reaching the small producer.  Remember that efforts to improve the production of the medium and small producer have met with success, and Miguel feels reasonably satisfied.  It is with the small producer that efforts have been less than successful.  Miguel has done exit surveys with the small producers at workshops to determine the degree to which they understood the material presented.  He found that while the participants were polite and appreciative as a function of their innate courtesy, they really understood very little.  Hence, the efforts to address these concerns.

  "In the midst of the success that the Farmer to Farmer programs were finding with the medium and large producer, another monster has reared its ugly head in the form of the privatization of milk production.  Formerly the processing of milk was in the hands of a cooperative of Federation, now it is in the hands of private business.  I believe it is currently Nestle.  This complicates the Bolivian situation because just as success was being achieved and dairy production up, the processing plant began to manipulate the supply.  They are able to do this because essentially they have an international monopoly.  If dairy farmers in Bolivia are unhappy with the prices being offered, the plant simply accepts more product in Peru, etc.  Of course, the same tactic is used against the Peruvian dairy farmers.  As a result, dairy farmers are producing more and better product than ever before and have no market to speak of.  Due to this situation, many producers are throwing in the towel.  The number of small producers has fallen from approximately 1400 to 800 in recent months, and the trend show no signs of slowing down.  These farmers sell off their stock, land, and equipment and move to urban areas.  They are unequipped to find employment, quickly go through what funds they derive from the sale of their farms, and eventually become another nail in the economic coffin.

  "In answer to their problem, Miguel presents his second goal: the opening of a cooperative dairy processing plant within the next few years.  In order to provide even more of an economic boon to the dairy farmer and to improve child nutrition, Miguel also hopes to begin developing new markets for milk products in Bolivia.  Currently, milk is used for little other than cheese production and milk for coffee.  Much as various industry AD councils do in the U.S., Miguel hopes to reach and educate the public o the benefits of milk consumption." 

The following are excerpts from Joe's report:
 "We were providing assistance to several agricultural groups, universities and rural women's groups.  Our primary contact was Miguel Cortez with Universidad Autonoma ‘Gabriel Rene Moreno' who is also President of the Partners in Santa Cruz.  We made presentations to ten agricultural and university groups about the LeadAR Program (an adult agricultural and rural leadership development program sponsored by the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service in Arkansas) and suggested guidelines for establishing a similar program in Santa Cruz.  Such a program would have to be developed by Bolivians for Bolivians to ensure commitment to the program and the support of the sponsoring organization.  We visited three rural women's clubs who handmade textiles for an uncertain market in the Montero and Santa Cruz area.  I estimate we had discussions with 60 to 70 women and five to ten men at these locations.

  "We visited two rural indigenous communities near San Javier to discuss adult education, The Extension Service process and the value of training their own leaders.  We also toured a Down's Syndrome School (FUSINDO) in Santa Cruz to determine medical needs.  We partitioned medical supplies from containers that had already been shipped to Santa Cruz by a non-profit organization that was developed as a result of a visit of LeadAR Class 8 that visited Bolivia in 1999.  These supplies were sorted by local physicians and ourselves.  Our goal is to let the medical community in Santa Cruz determine the priorities for disbursement.  Our primary contacts were Dr. Desiree Mostajo and Dr. Carlos Paniagua.  We delivered part of these supplies to a small clinic in Buena Vista, a small rural community about 4 hours from Santa Cruz.

  "We observed that all of the agricultural organizations and both universities (UAGRM and Nur University) agreed to the need for a leadership program.  The concept of how such a program produces benefits is not easy to comprehend but the structure of our program was easy to describe.  The need for such a program in Bolivia is obvious to us.  I think the organizations wanted us to hand deliver such a program to them.  If we do that, it will not last long.  We invited representatives of Nur and UAGRM to a meeting of directors of these types of programs (International Association of Programs of Agricultural Leadership) in Indiana in October.  There they could see the variety of these programs and make many good contacts with other ideas.

  "We made suggestions to the rural women groups of how to find markets for their products and improve the quality of their textiles.  We think they want us to provide them with a market.  We cannot do this.  They have the idea we will be their savior.  We regret we cannot be the solution but only make suggestions for the solution.  We were able to suggest possible funding sources for the indigenous communities through the UAGRM contact, Dr. Chavez.  We recommended they locate individuals who had moved to the cities, were working for successful companies and had been reared near San Javier.  These people would likely be good resources for extra funds.  In Arkansas, having rural roots promotes support rural areas.

  "Our greatest success may have been in beginning to remove some barriers for future shipments of medical supplies.  If Rotary International can help pay for part of the shipping costs and if the customs official that is a neighbor of Cynthia Pereyra can get a waiver on the taxes when the shipments arrive, I believe we can really begin to deliver some medical relief to some rural clinics.  Overall, we planted some seeds in the areas mentioned.  The Bolivians will have to supply the fertilizer and care.  We will be a resource for them but they have to take the initiative (with encouragement) or the seeds will die.

  "I had heard about the Farmer to Farmer program from previous volunteers and all I heard was good.  I was very pleased to be able to participate.  I will encourage others to volunteer if they see a real need in their area of expertise and want to give a hand to those in less fortunate circumstances.  The trip to Santa Cruz was, for me, very satisfying.  We met some wonderful, caring, big hearted Bolivians who are really trying to improve their country's situation.  The hospitality was the best I have ever seen.  Miguel Cortez is an extremely valuable resource for Partners in Bolivia.  He is knowledgeable, caring and very kind to visitors.  He was giving tests at school and still seeing to our visit, meals, travel, etc.  He was marvelous.  Jorge Jadauza was exceptional as well.  He went out of his way to be the translator at many of our meetings and did a superb job."

  In 1987, Martha Shackford began the first Suzuki program in Bolivia in Santa Cruz at the instituto de Bellas Artes under the direction of Aida McKenney, funded by the Arkansas Chapter of Partners of the Americas.  Magali Pinto, one of six very young students to begin their teacher training with Martha in 1987, went on to continue her training with Martha as well as with Ronda Cole.  Now Magali is director of her own school in Santa Cruz with 35 well-trained violin students of her own.
 
  Corazon a Corazon (Heart to Heart) is a non-profit corporation founded in Spring 1999 for the initial purpose of bringing the young violinists of the Cole/Shackford studio in concert to the people of Bolivia.  The group consists of children of all races, ethnic backgrounds, and religions, from the Washington DC area.  To raise money for their trip, the young musicians performed over 25 impromptu concerts at Washington DC Metro stops during rush hours and held a gala fundraiser concert at the Hall of the Americas.  Due to these efforts and the generosity of many supporters, the group was able to travel to Bolivia in August, 2000, and performed six concerts in three cities - Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, and La Paz.  Concerts were co-sponsored by local charities in each city, and raised $14,000 for medicine, eyeglasses and clothing for the needy children of Bolivia.

Santa Cruz
 When the plane landed in Santa Cruz, I felt that I had come home. For 13 years I had dreamed of taking my students to Bolivia, and on August 21, 2000, that dream came true.  Walking into Magali's school, seeing American and Bolivian students playing the Bach Double violin concerto together, with their parents lining the walls, listening, was so fulfilling as to seem unreal.  What a joy to have the Corazón students living in the homes of the Bolivian students, getting a true Bolivian experience!  That evening a banquet for all the violinists was hosted by Davosan, a charity devoted to raising money for medicine for sick children.
 
  The third morning in Bolivia marked our big concert day.  How moving it was to come into the orphanage for our first concert for an audience of children, many of whom stood the entire hour and a half without complaining.  We were treated to beautiful singing by the children of the orphanage choir, and discovered that two of the Bolivian Suzuki students who attend Magali's school live in the orphanage.  Afterwards the children showed us their houses, where treats were waiting for us.
 
  Thanks to the hard work and organization of Davosan (directed by Señora Dora Luz) in cooperation with Magali Pinto and her school, the concert that night drew an audience of1100 people and raised $11,000.  The Corazón children knew then it had been more than worth it to travel so many miles to bring their music to others.
 
  After we returned home, we received an email from a grandmother of one of the Suzuki students in Santa Cruz.  She said that she was so moved by the concert, she cried all the way home.  She said, "If these young musicians can come all this way to help our children, we Bolivians can do more for our own!"
 
Cochabamba
 Flying from tropical Santa Cruz into the temperate climate of the Andes foothills surrounding Cochabamba was like arriving in a fairy tale.  The weather was perfect and from the airport balcony we were greeted with waves and cheers by the local Lions Club and schoolchildren.  We had a whirlwind stay in this city, but were nevertheless made to feel quite loved.  After settling into the hotel, we did some sightseeing, had lunch, and prepared for our afternoon concert.
 
  The ancient concert hall dating back to Colonial times lent a special flavor to our music.  The matinee was full of public school children of all ages, which in Bolivia means very poor children.  Every seat was full and many were standing in the aisles and hallways.  Looking out into the crowd, we were greeted with smiles from eager faces - an audience that made all our musicians want to contribute their best!  The politeness and refined behavior of the children listening was quite rewarding.  It was especially surprising since Cochabamba does not have a Suzuki program and these school children have not ad much exposure to concerts.
 
  Besides offering beautiful music to the people of Cochabamba, our goal was to inspire others to begin a Suzuki program there.  At the afternoon concert there were four university students from the Jamie Laredo School who were very eager to learn how to become Suzuki teachers.  They had come to the matinee because there was no charge, and they had an important orchestra rehearsal that evening which kept them from being able to attend our evening concert.  I talked with them at length after the matinee, trading email addresses and ideas about organizing a Suzuki program in Cochabamba and discussing possibilities for them to receive Suzuki teacher training.  When the evening concert was over, we were all met back stage for autographs and mor questions about teacher training.  It seems the orchestra rehearsal was canceled in favor of the Corazón a Corazón concert!  I am now corresponding with the concertmaster of the orchestra concerning Suzuki teacher training for him.  Thus, another dream may come true!
 
  When we returned home, we received an email from an elderly man (the President of the Cochabamba Lions Club).  He had promised to see us off at the airport and had discovered the next day that he was needed to deliver eyeglasses to children in the country.  He had gotten up very early, spent several hours delivering the glasses, and driven back three hours to meet our plane which left for La Paz mid afternoon.  He didn't make it in time to shake our hands, but he was on the airport balcony waving us off as we walked across the tarmac to our plane.  Though we didn't know it, he was among those helping to cheer us off.  Our concert had raised a few thousand dollars for children's eyeglasses.

La Paz
 La Paz has the world's highest airport - 14,000 feet!  If you've never flown to an altitude that high, believe us it is hard work just to breathe!  Though we had warned one another to move slowly, the inevitable happened and several of us had to utilize the oxygen tank service.  Luckily, our beautiful hotel was in the lowest part of the city several thousand feet lower than the airport.
 
  Our concert was for elementary school children who attend public school.  Imagine our surprise when we arrived to find the piano unusable, thus inspiring spur of the moment violin intros, interludes, and harmonies.  All of this was prepared outside in the courtyard as parents saw that children drank plenty of water to treat potential altitude sickness and Corazón a Corazón sweatshirts were shed in favor of t-shirts.
 
  The concert was a wonderful experience despite the piano crisis, as was demonstrated by the long and enthusiastic photo session afterwards.  It seemed every child wanted their photograph taken with the group.  However, they had to wait until the newspaper and TV reporters were finished.  Meanwhile there was a reception for the performers in the courtyard.
 
  The audience included the concert master of the Bolivian National Symphony, his son (principal violist) and the wife of the mayor of Altiplano City, also a musician.  They had come to the children's concert since our evening concert conflicted with the opening of the opera for which the symphony was playing.  I was fortunate to meet with them following the concert, and discovered that they were in the process of developing an instrumental program for the children of the Altiplano.  We discussed the Suzuki philosophy and the advantages of beginning with a Suzuki program, as well as how teachers might obtain Suzuki teacher training.  The ramifications of having a Suzuki Program anywhere in the capital where most fiscal decisions are made, having all endorsement from the higher level of society in La Paz could have a great effect on music and education for the whole country.
 
  The Altiplano (the high plain) is the area of Bolivia which surrounds La Paz and includes Lake Titicaca and parts of Peru.  It has a culture all its own, and its population has grown so much that it has been declared a separate city with its own government.  The people are very poor in this region.  The Lions Club of La Paz has as a central project clothing the poor children of the Altiplano.  Since the area is so high it is very cold and the sun's rays are extremely intense.  The children stand beside the main roads, wearing only t-shirts (or nothing).  The members of the lions Club raise money, bu and gather clothing, and go to the children themselves and dress them.  The money raised by our concert was devoted to clothing these children.
 
  The final concert of the tour was held in La Paz at the American School, which has a large auditorium with wonderful acoustics.  Playing at those heights is indeed a challenge, and I sat in the front row wondering if I should catch the soloists or their violins first!  Fortunately the children did not pass out, and managed to play quite well.  Even 14-year old Michelle Goldman, our fantastic castanet player and Spanish dancer, made it through her dances smiling like a true professional.  However it was certainly a good thing the audience was not privy to what was going on backstage1

Corazón a Corazón goes two different directions
 The next morning before the sun was up, our group headed for Lake Titicaca on two different buses.  Our performing tour was over, but not our Latin American experience.  We were about to learn a lot about the Incas, half of us for one more day, and the other half for another week as we make our way to Peru, Cusco, and Machu Picchu.  We traveled by bus, boat, train, and plane.  We visited islands, ruins, and the ancient city of Cusco.  We went shopping and biking and we played card game after card game in transit, in hotels, in restaurants.  Many events stick out as amazing memories, but one in particular cannot go without being shared.

Much more than a train ride!
  It was the tenth hour of our train ride to Cusco, Peru, and we were stopping for the fourth time!  It was getting dark and the ride had been uncomfortably rough.  Looking out the window, we noticed many children greeting us.  People in the train were handing pens and pencils to the Peruvian children, since they had nothing to write with in school.  Our American children brought out backpacks, suitcases, and purses.  In 5 minutes there wasn't a writing utensil to be found inside the train! The gift giving had established a relationship of sorts between the two groups of children, a relationship of the haves and have-nots.  The train waited, and we watched each other expectantly, so happy to connect.
 
  I always have a tune in my head and began singing "I've been workin' on the railroad," soon joined by the Corazón a Corazón children.  They began a musical exchange in Spanish and English, lasting for the better part of an hour.  Many of the travelers on the train came back to our car to watch, listen, and share this special moment between American and Peruvian children.  When the train started to roll again through the Andes toward the Inca city of Cusco, the Peruvian children ran as far as they could with us, and we parted as friends.  Our shared music had filled our hearts, making a lifetime memory.

An ongoing relationship with Bolivian children
 An invitation was extended during the tour to the Suzuki students of Santa Cruz to come to the USA to attend the June 2001 Suzuki Institute.  Plans are now taking shape for this to happen and 14 children, 5 parents, and 2 teachers are on the list to come to Washington DC in June.  Corazón a Corazón has scheduled a benefit concert to help pay for the institute tuition for these children and will host them, providing transportation, food, housing, and sightseeing in our nation's capital.  We are very excited about this exchange.  Teachers Magali Pinto and Eliza Zegarra will receive teacher training and the opportunity to see their own students taught by master teachers.  Translation from Spanish to English is being arranged to maximize the benefits for the Bolivians.

(Editor's note: As noted above, this whole program involving Suzuki and Bolivia started right here in Arkansas with Martha becoming a member of Partners.  Magali Pinto also came to Arkansas on a Partners exchange and received her first Suzuki training in Fayetteville.  The Editor does believe that Martha went just a bit overboard on the horrors of the altitude in the city of La Paz!)

  In Santa Cruz the group worked with several people, principally among them new President Miguel Cortez.  Also, in his capacity as Director of the Farmer to Farmer program, planning was done in that area, and included consultation with Zenon Flores.  In addition the group met with the Medical Committee, which included Carlos Paniagua, Desiree Mostajo, Rene Suarez, Jorge Ibarnegaray, Carlos Dabdoub and others.  In addition several of the group toured the Japanese hospital, of which Dabdoub is Executive Director.  Meetings were also held with their Education Committee, including Barbara Lascano, Maria Cella Ibarnegaray, andMarioly Mansilla.  One evening the group met at the home of Aida McKenney, Chair of Culture and others to go over not only work in her area, but also the entire re- chartering process.  The group also toured the private university UPSA, where they met Vice Rector Lauren Muller de Pacheco, Architecture Dean Victor Hugo Limpias, and Director of Graduate Studies Jorge Estenssoro.  The first full weekend there, the Wheelers took a side trip to Tarija to visit a Peace Corps volunteer friend of theirs and Frans went to La Paz to visit his late wife's family.

  It was during the next week that the group traveled out to Trinidad and first learned of the destruction of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  Recovering from that as best they could, they proceeded to hold meetings with Roxana Rivero, President of the Trinidad group, her sister Maria Teresa (who had been in Arkansas earlier this year), with the nurses Wilma Alarcon and Vivian Rodal (who were in Arkansas late last year), and with Willie Tanaka, who had also been in Arkansas earlier.  The group also met with Victor Hugo Callau, Executive Director of "La Libertad" radio station, and several were interviewed on air by him.  Arrangements are also being made for Victor Hugo to travel to Arkansas soon so that he can gain additional experience in the use of public service broadcasting in order to better address social problems. Time in Trinidad was all too short and the group proceeded to leave for Cobija to meet with the new Partner's group there.  Unfortunately, the plane developed mechanical problems so the group (more than a little nervous by this time) elected to return to Santa Cruz via an all-night "bed-bus." 

  Once there, the group wound up their visit with more conferences, the three ladies even getting involved in a 5-kilometer "caminata" or race (walk!) for the cure for children fighting cancer.  They professed that they all finished the course, although the men were not actually there to witness that fact!  The last night in Santa Cruz the East Bolivia Partners hosted a meeting for the group and many old friendships were renewed and several new ones made.

 

  Left to right: Bob Frans, Libby Wheeler, Gwen Millager, Bill Millager,
          Thecia Taylor, and  Laurin Wheeler in front of UPSA.
Click image for full size photo.

  Since the last issue of Direcciones The Arkansas Board met in Russellville on August 11, 2001.  The meeting was well-attended and much of the time was taken up with final planning for the Annual Meeting.  Also reports were heard from Joe Waldrum concerning his trip to Bolivia (see above) and from Ed Hawkins, who attended a Farmer to Farmer meeting in Washington.  Nominations for next year's officers and board members were presented by Kay Kraeft.  After the mail ballot, the successful slate will be presented at the Annual Meeting.  Joe reported that, during his trip to Bolivia, the medical supplies had arrived and he and Gail assisted in their distribution.  The Board approved the travel request for Victor Hugo Callau to travel to Arkansas.

  The following are new members who have joined since the last issue of the newsletter.  Please welcome:

 Joe Waldrum, 90 St. Thomas Ct., Little Rock AR 72211, H-501-224-2787, O-501-671-2076
 Kristin Walker, 640 Rathburn Road E. #20, Mississauga Ontario LAZK6 Canada, H-905-275-2899
 Regina Walker, 212 Fink St., Mena AR 71953, H-501-394-1289
 

DON'T FORGET!!

  The Annual Meeting is October 19 and 20 and the Board Meeting is October 21 – all in Conway