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 Newsletter of the Arkansas-East Bolivia Partners of the Americas
 Bob Frans, Ed. rfrans@comp.uark.edu
1366 W. Altheimer Dr., Fayetteville AR 72704-6804
Phone 501-575-3978 or 443-5403, Fax 501-575-3975
www.partners.net (International) www.uark.edu/misc/partners (Arkansas)

Availability of Supplies 
  The following message from Bill Stedman should be of interest to several of you:
To: All Partners Presidents and Executive Directors 
  The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) has kindly offered to open to Partners chapters its program that provides tools, medical and dental equipment, and supplies that can be obtained with a contribution from the recipient of about 10 to 20% of their fair market value.
  Generally available tools include, for example, mechanical carpentry, agriculture, and office equipment, such as computers. Medical and dental equipment usually available include, for example, basic supplies, monitors, respirators, ventilators wheelchairs, beds and infusion pumps. Recipients are asked to reimburse PADF for storage, repair if needed, export charges, insurance, administrative fees, packing and delivery by sea. . The total cost is much less than the equipment/s value. Lists of available items are sent by e-mail every 2-3 months. 
  PADF is a non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service code. It was established in 1962 and is affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS). It has for many years received donated equipment from manufacturers, individuals, and government agencies that will help improve the health, skills and employment opportunities of low income people in Latin America and the Caribbean. 
  Since PADF is affiliated with it, the OAS is generally the consignee of the equipment, which helps greatly in getting goods duty fee through customs. Some fees may be involved. Air transportation, if desired, is not included. PADF has transportation contacts and in many to receive lists of available equipment or want further information, please contact: PADF at
e-mail padf-dc@padf.org, fax 202-458-6316, tel. 202-458-3969, or web page www.padf.org `

Education and Culture
 Bill Stedman also announces that Partners expect to receive funds soon from the Department of State to launch the 2002 program of travel and small assistance grants under the Education and Culture program.  He urges that all Partners begin to organize suitable trips and project activities early in the year.  He also suggests  that we communicate with our counterpart chapter to offer our willingness to receive travelers that they might propose.

Pertinent Actions by POA Board of Directors
 New Vice President positions include: Anabella Bruch, Vice President for Programs; Rich Lamporte, Vice President for New Program and Resource Development; and Pablo Paz y Miño, CFO and Vice President for Finance and Administration.  Barbara Bloch will be acting Vice President for Partnership Development until the hiring of a new Vice President is confirmed.

  A new deadline for paying membership dues has been established as March 15, starting in 2002. 

  Quito, Ecuador will be the site for the 2002 International Convention (more later).

  A decision to switch back to an Annual Meeting status for the International Convention from the biennial status.

Rechartering
 According to recent information received we have been successfully re-chartered (the Arkansas component).  Our Bolivian counterparts have recently submitted their materials and we anticipate their success as well.  Re-chartering is important - without this process, we cannot participate in grants and projects.

Resource Information
 There are several resources available to individual partnerships to assist in our work.  These include both Travel Grant and project assistance funds.  Full details on these resources can be found on the Partners web site: www.partners.net .  Remember - travel applications must be received in Washington 30 days prior to travel and project assistance fund requests 60 days prior to the planned event.  These are some of the resources available:

• Farmer to Farmer - both travel and training.  Our partnership with Bolivia is a priority.

• Education and Culture - includes travel grants, project assistance grants and teacher-in-residence programs (see above).

• Women and Families - both travel and project assistance funds will be available for Family Life Education.

• Partnership Development - project assistance funds available once a year only for strengthening partnerships

• Reach Out/Farmer to Farmer - project assistance funds for developing materials featuring Farmer to Farmer projects.  Again, our partnership is a targeted, priority.

These are but a few programs we can participate in.  Check with appropriate Board members or committee chairs if you have an interest.

Sports
 Apparently there is a renewed interest in stimulating interest in sports programs.  Participants in the Orlando International Convention last November were urged to try to interest their partnerships in such programs.  Consequently, President Taylor brought back materials distributed at that meeting to help stimulate such interest.  Apparently, there is an anticipation that there will be some 15 sports exchanges in 2002 (coaches training coaches - no teams as yet).  The award is anticipated in March of this year and all chapters are eligible - for more information contact Rich Lamporte at 202-637-622 or rl@partners.net. 

Farmer to Farmer
 Partners has been granted a two-year extension of the Farmer to Farmer program.  The extension will continue activities in the 8 priority countries (Bolivia, Ecuador, Haiti, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala) and expand our work in the Caribbean (Grenada, Antigua and St. Lucia).  In addition, the extension includes a mentoring arrangement with OIC International, a minority NGO, that will prepare it to become a Farmer to Farmer Program inplementor in the future in Africa. 

  We have this item lifted straight out of the Indiana Partners Newsletter of November/December 2001 - some of you should be interested.

The "Synthesis of South America"
  That's the description of Ecuador according to the Ecuadoran Tourist Center.  Why would we be interested in that?  Because Quito, Ecuador will be the site of the 2002 Partners of the Americas Annual Convention.  The theme for the 2002 Convention is Together for Peace and Social Development.

Ecuador is situated between Colombia and Peru.  The Equator crosses it from East to West and the Andes Mountains from South to North.  Heights in Ecuador extend up 6,000 meters; Quito itself is at 3,410 meters.  Many interesting world features await you in Ecuador.
• The Middle of the World Monument is about 30 minutes from Quito.  It is considered by Indian communities as holy because of closeness to the Sun.
• Cotopaxi, the second highest volcano in the world.  5897 meters above sea level, Cotopaxi is a home for high altitude birds like the Puna Hawk and Andean Condor.
• Montañita, on the coast offers beautiful and quiet beaches.
• The celebrated Galapagos Islands are off the coast of Ecuador. • Cuyabueno and Yasuní Preserve and Park is home to over 300 species with an extraordinary genetic diversity.

  Evidence of man in Ecuador dates back over 11,000 years.  Cultures emerged, thrived and became extinct, during that time.  Fifteen ethnic groups, descended from these forebears, inhabit the land today.

  For continuing information contact the Ecuadoran Tourist Service: santiand2@yahoo.com or mpecuador@yahoo.com.  Keep checking the Partners of the Americas website: http://www.partners.net  as the Kentucky/Ecuador Partners develop the program for 2002!  Dates for the convention are Nov. 21-23, 2002.

  We would like to start featuring information about some of our Partner members and friends.  We have a few for this issue.

Students at the University
 We have had quite a large number of students at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville as well as at other institutions, such as UCA.  Through time, we will try to feature some of these students - what they are doing, studying, and perhaps their aspirations for the future.  The first of these was developed by Bill Millager and follows:

  Arum Han is a UA student, soon to be a UA alumnus.He has finished his course work for the Bachelor of Science in Food Sciences. He is currently (February, 2002) interning at Tyson's Mexican Original. 

Professional Interests
  Arum concentrated on courses in food science. He is especially interested in research and development, especially in the sensory area. (Food Science focuses on chemistry like starch, protein, and carbohydrates, and involves some Biology).

And he is tuned in to the importance of sensory testing. One of the ways that Sensory can be part of research and development is by consumer tests, which is making sure that the product is suitable for the population that is being tested. He puts it this way, "One approach to product innovation is to make a new product similar to a successful product, but make it slightly different. This may mean to get a new ingredient in order to sell it cheaper, or changing the texture or flavors.

  "I like product development, making new products. Companies get most of their profit through product development. Consumers are all about innovation, new things; they get bored with the same thing. Products go through a cycle: first they start recouping the money that they invest; then they go to a high peak where the company is gaining a profit.  But eventually those products start dying, losing profit. Therefore, different companies are innovating all the time."

  Right now Arum is working in Tyson Mexican Original. Mexican Original makes tortillas and chips, which they sell it to different companies.  However, their number one customer is Taco Bell. "You get one credit hour for an internship; you keep your student status, but you are just working, not taking any classes. It brings in some money, builds up your resume, and it is a great experience to work in an industry."

University of Arkansas
  Arum's interest in UA came through a contact of his father's. His father has a friend, Professor Park in Education. Park is a Korean

"He used to have a program in the Education Department with Bolivia. UA used to send professors to Bolivia to teach. Professor Park met my father in Bolivia, and suggested that I come here. I found out about the great scholarship that the Partners of the Americas provides for the Bolivians. It saves a lot of money; I didn't try for any other school. 

"This is now my fifth year. I came first to Spring International for a semester in spring, ‘97. Then started my courses in Fall, ‘97. I am planning to go to graduate school this fall (2002). I'll specialize in Sensory, which is part of Food Science."

Personal, Hobbies, Activities, Tastes
  "My roommate and I have an apartment on Leverett near Eureka Pizza. It's about a 20-minute walk from Food Science. 

  "I lived with other Bolivians for three years. Now I've moved in with a guy from the Bahamas and Arkansas. When I first got here, there were not many international students. Lately they've increased a lot, especially over the last three years. Now there are a lot of students from everywhere. There are also a lot from Bolivia; there are now so many Bolivians, that I can't keep up with them.  I think it's great that the University has all these students from all the places. The Bolivians are mainly in agriculture, business, and few in engineering.

  "In my spare time, I spend time with my friends from Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship."  This summer I'll join them for a two-week mission to Argentina.  I'll also stop over in Bolivia for a family visit and to meet my new niece."

  Phil Serafini is a long-time officer and stalwart member of Arkansas Partners of the Americas.  He also hosts occasional "asado" barbecues, popular among Bolivian students. Phil has known Arum Han since shortly after his arrival in Fayetteville. He says Arum is a credit to Bolivia, to the University, and to himself.

Internship in Scotland
  Last year, Arum participated in the Study Abroad program run by Professor Ray Barclay. According to their website, 
(www.uark.edu/depts/intagpro/studyabroad/2002programs.html ), "Two food science students served as summer interns in 2001 at the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) in Auchincruive. Tonya Priesmeyer and Arum Han both worked together on new product development and research in the SAC food technology center."

  Arum reports,  "The Scottish Agricultural College has three campuses: Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Auchincruive. (See map at http://www.sac.ac.uk/info/external/about/contact/map99new.htm .) For the research we were working with, they have now published the results.  It was on chicken's water-holding capacity. When laying hens get old, they throw them away. They're trying to use them. Usually, when you cook chicken the water comes out.  They want to see how much water they can retain when cooked, to make more weight when they're sold."

  Arum adds, "While on internship in Scotland, I went to France, Austria, Netherlands, England, and Italy. In Italy, it was funny that I met one of my friends from Bolivia who was studying at the U of A, too."

Family and Early Education
  "My parents are both from Korea; my sister and I were born in Bolivia. I went to high school at St Tomas Aquinas, a bilingual school. 

  "My sister is 21, two years younger than me. She just had a baby daughter that I haven't seen yet. She is a student at UPSA University (Santa Cruz), in graphic arts. 

  "My father has a degree in agronomy from Korea. He came over to Bolivia because one of his friends was there and told him to come over and plus they didn't know if the Korean War could have kept going. He worked in a chicken feed factory. Plus he was working with a public university (Gabriel Moreno), doing research on fermentation. He was allowed to use the labs on condition that he would teach at the same time. He didn't know any Spanish, but he learned it by himself. The pay wasn't much, that is why he decided to start his own business.

  "He got married in Bolivia; my mother came to Bolivia to marry him. He likes being in Bolivia; because it is a really laid back country, now he goes over to Korea for vacation sometimes. For me, Korea has too many people, too crowded, however; I would think about living there if there is a good job offer."

  "My dad had a business selling jewels. Now he close his store and my mom is the only one working. She has her own business, selling crystals decoration for houses" 

Bolivian Economy
  "Dad's not doing anything right now because the economy is pretty bad. In Argentina, too, things are pretty bad: the president just resigned. I think that the economy is doing bad, pretty much in all Latin American's countries and even the whole world. 

  "I think it's going to take a long time for Bolivia to come back and have a good economic situation. Also the corruption has to lessen. There are good things happening. We are exporting gas to Brazil, Argentina; going to add Peru and maybe Chile. They were even thinking about selling sell gas to America too.

Future Plans
  "I would like to work in a food industry. I'd like to stay here in America, at least for a while or until I know that there is a good opportunity for a great job in Bolivia. I think that the mentality of the people in Bolivia, especially in leadership has to change. There is too much corruption, and everything depends on who are your relatives and their friends. We need to give opportunities to other people that work hard and do have the skills, but do no have the connections. 

  "The situation in America is not like that. All the Americans have equal opportunities. 

  "People can have a good business in Bolivia: there's not much competition. There are plenty of resources. You can start with a decent size company and grow from there."

2/25/02 

Claude has been to Bolivia 5 times and continues to encourage dairy cattlemen there to vaccinate their heifers only once, when they are 3 to 11 months old, using only the French vaccine.  Unfortunately, this is not always done, which hinders success of the program.

 "I visited Bolivia January 12 to January 26, 2002.  I was headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra and was the houseguest of Jorge Rodriguez, his wife Fabiola and their beautiful ten-month old son Benjamin.  Jorge is an employee of ANAPO, a farmer cooperative association that provides research, outreach and technical support for producers of soybean, sunflower, rice and wheat.

  "After meeting with the technical staff of ANAPO on my first day in Bolivia it was decided that I would spend the first week touring the outlying research and demonstration locations of ANAPO and the production regions of the Santa Cruz District.    During the second week, I spent more time near the city and focused on my areas of expertise in variety testing and seed production.  The tour was fascinating and enlightening.  During visits to Pailon, San Pedro, Montero, and the Japanese colonies of Okinawa and Yapacani, I was exposed to the amazing diversity of Eastern Bolivian agriculture.  The contrast between the large and highly mechanized farms and the subsistence-level farms was matched by the diversity of the people that I met on those farms. The common threads among all those that I met (I'm guessing that it was more than one hundred) was graciousness, kindness and inquisitiveness.  I wish I could have answered all of the questions that they asked. 

My second week was a little less adventurous, but no less interesting.  During my last day I again met with the technical staff of ANAPO and Miguel Cortez.  I offered suggestions on ways that they might build on the impressive work that they are already doing.  And I also offered ideas about procuring additional funding for that work.  I hope to return to Bolivia as soon as I can manage and to explore the possibility of continuing relationships with those that I met.

  "I won't attempt to thank or acknowledge everyone that helped to arrange my travel to and withing Bolivia, but I do wan to express my appreciation to Phil (Serafini), Miguel and certainly to Jorge and his family." 

  Ray Suarez of "The News Hour with Jim Leher" conducted an interview with Bolivian President Quiroga on January 1, 2002.  The following are a few excerpts from that interview:

SUAREZ: Bolivia is landlocked, about the size of Texas and California, and home to some eight million people.  Annual income per person is a little under $1,000, making it the poorest country in South America.  Through much of its history, Bolivia has been marked by lost wars, political corruption, economic mismanagement, and until recently, a booming coca trade.

  For decades, an entire region of the country was sustained by growing coca for cocaine.  Since the early ‘80s, the country has evolved into a functioning democracy, and conquered its chronic hyperinflation with market-oriented economic reforms.  And in the last four years, the coca crop has been virtually eradicated by the U.S. supported military, but at a huge economic cost for thousands of farmers.

  Appeasing ex-coca farmers and developing an alternative economy in the middle of a world economic slowdown is potentially the most explosive issue facing the new president, Jorge Quiroga, a 41-year-old, American-educated engineer, who succeeded President Hugo Banzer last August when the 75-year-old former general resigned because of cancer. 

  President Quiroga, on his first visit to the United States as president, knows this country well from his college years at Texas A & M, and his early career with IBM.  He sat for an interview with us between meetings with President Bush, Congressional leaders, and representatives of the World Bank and Organization of American States.

SUAREZ: Why did you come back to Bolivia?  You were embarked on a career.  You had finished your education in the United States, gotten married, and worked for a multi-national corporation.  You could have very easily just decided, as many people do, this is it, my life is here now.

QUIROGA: I always wanted to do public service. — My family has never been wealthy, but I had a chance to get a good education, work somewhere else in the world, understand how the world works. —

 When I was (at) Texas A & M, I would be asked, "Who's the president of Bolivia this week?"  I had eight presidents in my three-and-a-half years of college.  Or, "What's the inflation rate this week?"  For a point in time we reached 25,000 percent per year.  Or, "If you're from Bolivia, you must have cocaine."

These were the stereotypes that were applied.  It was very frustrating. —
 We are going through tough times but stability is guaranteed.  The financial sector is sound.  Foreign and direct investment is still flowing: 8 to 12 percent of GDP per year, and (hopefully) the drugs will be out of the picture.

SUAREZ: I was very interested in your ideas about making a shareholder society out of a very poor country.  The idea that having a little pension plan or — accounts that you own is not something that need be just for rich people.  Talk a little bit about that.

QUIROGA: Market economics sometimes hasn't reached everybody.  Because if you have a piece of land that you have no title to, how can you be for market economics when you can't get more goods, when you can't use it as collateral and things like land titling, access to housing which is the basic building block of market economy, you can't quite relate to it.  So the idea that we're trying to work on a lot is particularly through housing and housing titling and having access to loans, collateral.

  We're setting up systems where you can go with local currency — with inflation-adjusted interest rates where you can do something as in America that you take for granted, but in Bolivia has never happened: 20-year loans with under 10% interest rates to buy a house, if you have the land duly titled.  It sounds like such a simple thing to do, but it's never really worked in Latin American countries.

SUAREZ: Let's go to drug production for a moment.  How do you make the case to your own people, the tens of thousands of families who either lived directly tied to coca production of in ancillary businesses, that it's a better thing for them to struggle for a few years, be deprived for a few years but come out at the other end in better shape?  Isn't that a tough thing to do, especially after a long time of living tied to cocaine?

QUIROGA: It is a tough case to make, but we made it in the following way.  I think for two decades we were always the Hertz or Avis of drug production, always number one or two in cocaine production.  September 11 very clearly illustrates the dangers of terrorism and drug production, which to me are twins and they work together.  If you don't address one, what could happen later on?  Drug production needed to be taken out because more than eight million Bolivians had the problems of corruption that run rampant based on drug money, consumption that affected our own young people, our own people inside the borders, international stereotypes and stigmas that were applied to us anywhere we went and the constant threat of decertification.

  So those were things that hurt the entire country.  We made great strides.  We've taken out around 90% of the excess coca production in a region which used to be made into almost 250 metric tons of cocaine per year.  Is there a short-term economic cost?  There is.  We can't have a 21st-century healthy economy based partially on drug production which brings about all these problems.

----(In) the worldwide effort against drug production (there needs to be seen) that there is a success story in terms of a small country that was always the number one or number two producer in the world of cocaine with the political weight, with the plan, with the help, with access to markets, can finish the job and sustainably show that this can be done. And I think that will be a contribution in this worldwide struggle against narco-trafficking.

SUAREZ: Briefly, what do you want from Americans, rank-and-file citizens when they think about Bolivia and what would you like to see from the leadership?

QUIROGA: I think it's very critical to understand that this first year of the 21st century, countries that have made good strides in terms of the things that we have done need to get the proper signals at the right time.

  It's very critical.  The number one issue for development to me today is trade reform.  Trade reform that has open markets, free trade but free trade free of agricultural subsidies that run to a tune of $320 billion worldwide, six times the level of aid and it is very hard to compete against that, the removal of tariffs that are high tariffs selectively applied to some labor-intensive manufacturing.

SUAREZ: The constitution prevents you from running for re-election.  Do you have to just cross your fingers and hope that some of these ideas that you've tried to bring to government will prevail until you can get back to international politics again?

QUIROGA: I think what's important to understand about Bolivia is that a lot of these things are not the work of one particular person.  I think we have been practicing this evolution by construction since ‘82 when we regained democracy, since ‘85 when we stabilized our economy and opened our economy.  What is true of Bolivia is a lot of these things have evolved over several governments. —

 I'm very confident that Bolivia has kept that long, steady course beyond changes of government and the main lines will continue to flow through if we have the proper responses from the international community in terms of supporting what we have done in the institutional build up on the fight against drugs and the trade opening that we need to make sure that these things get consolidated.

  The Board met on January 12 in Russellville and was moderated by President Thecia Taylor.  A few of the more important actions and discussions follow:
 Margaret Clark reported that the date of the Annual Meeting has been set for October 12 in Fayetteville.  Plans for the meeting will be formulated in the near future.  She also announced that the Bolivian students at the University have formed a Bolivian Student Association and that Mary Alice Serafini will work with them.

Kay Kraeft, reporting for Culture, indicated there will be both a choral festival and a baroque festival in Bolivia.  She indicated that formal applications are needed from Bolivia to continue these efforts.

Thecia Taylor indicated that one shipment of medical supplies has been received in Bolivia and that work continues on developing a new list of needs.

 Bill Millager is working on conducting interview of Bolivian students - one has been completed (see above) and he is working on a second.

 Cinco de Mayo festivals are coming up, both in Northwest Arkansas and in Little Rock.  We will plan displays at both.  Phil Serafini plans to bring back from Bolivia suitable items for sale in conjunction with our displays.

Still Dues Time!

  Yes, we're still collecting dues!  If we haven't heard from you this year in this regard, you will find attached to this newsletter another dues statement.  Please help your organization by getting your 2002 dues paid.  Also, if you haven't yet provided us with your e-mail address, we'd appreciate getting that as well. 

  Both Gwen and Bill Millager have been active in affairs of Latin organizations in Arkansas - notably LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) and Hispanic Women's Organization of Arkansas (HWOA). 

LULAC is a civil rights advocacy group started in Texas in 1929, and has since grown to 110,000 members.  It emphasizes program scholarships, monitoring, job networking, and "just plain fun!"  They will be holding a national convention  in Houston June 23-29 which will probably attract several from Northwest Arkansas.  Tyson Foods has worked closely with the organization and recently presented them with a check for $6,000 for their scholarship fund.  LULAC also works with agencies dealing with abusive and other dysfunctional relationships in families.  They would encourage our Partners interest in their organization as well as membership.  Their dues are $35 per person, $50 per family, and $16 per student. 

 HWOA will be hosting a Cinco de Mayo celebration at the Jones Center in Springdale on Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4, 2002.  Their will be lots of activities and booths and we have been invited to participate.  Net proceeds go for scholarships for young Hispanic women.  We are looking for possible Bolivian items to sell at a booth.  If you have such items, please contact Gwen or Bill at 479-636-4195 or wmillage@uark.edu. 

  Please note: the web site addresses of both the international office in Washington and our Arkansas site are listed in the masthead of this newsletter.  Take a look - there's valuable and interesting information in both.  Hopefully, we will soon begin distributing this newsletter both by e-mail (we need your address!) and on our web site.  Already you can look back and read previous issues - all thanks to Bill Millager for his invaluable help on our site.