The Bolivia Project Team has received official notification from EWB-USA that our irrigation and drinking water projects for the communities of Zuncallo and Comucala have been approved. This represents a significant step forward in the development of the Colorado Springs Professional chapter. We are now moving beyond the good idea stage to the beginnings of an organization that will start making a difference in the lives of people around the world. Congratulations and thank you for all your work!
Now the work begins in earnest as we shift our focus beyond concept and start getting into the real nuts and bolts of what it will take to make the project successful. The site assessment trip is the next major milestone and we will need to identify; when to go, who to send, and what information needs to be gathered. It is important that we are prepared for this trip as we will meet the community for the first time and must engage the people and community leaders in a joint cause. We can support their goals to improve the community but we require active participation in the solution.
EWB National has provided us with a packet of information that is relevant to our next step. It is a zip file called Step 1- Pre-Assessment.zip and contains a number of helpful documents. Please take the time to download this file and read through the contents before our next team meeting. I have posted the following files to the Download section of the EWB-COS website:
Step_1_Pre-Assessment.zip
803-Zuncallo_Bolivia-APPROVED.doc.
Our grant application for Zuncallo was accepted by the Goldman Fund. We initially identified a $2,975 requirement to complete Phase 1 – Site Assessment of the project and they have funded the entire amount. This generous gift will enable EWB-COS to stay on schedule for our initial site visit this spring. This will be an important trip as we will meet the leaders and members of our host communities for the first time. Dialogue with the community is a critical first step in confirming that we truly understand how we can help them. Our data up to this point is very sketchy and ambiguous.
The Bolivia Project Team met recently to discuss schedule issues and report on action items. In order to support participation by the AFA cadets on the site assessment trip we identified two potential time periods; Spring Break and Dead Week. We believe it is doubtful that all travel approvals can be completed in time for Spring Break and are leaning more towards the week of 16-22 May.
A site assessment checklist is currently being developed that will begin to identify the myriad of data points we will need answers to while we are on the ground in Bolivia. Our plan is to conduct the site assessment not only for Zuncallo but also for Comucala while we are there; however, these are expected to be distinct projects with separate funding for implementation. The one-page project summary is posted in the Downloads section.
Our preliminary plans for the site assessment in Jan/Feb were way too optimistic but we live and learn. Hence our initial funding request was targeted at two people traveling. Now that more us will be able to go in May we will need to raise additional money to support the travel costs. Fortunately, airfares are down, with a round-trip ticket to La Paz currently at $900. This could change so the sooner we can get our timetable locked in the better.
Team meetings are being held every two weeks at 5:00 pm on Mondays with the next meeting on Feb 16th. Location is Arnold Hall at the Air Force Academy. Directions to the conference room: Go through main entrance of Arnold Hall, take a left and go down the hall. When you get to the balcony, turn right. The conference room is about half way down on the right.
