A Note From The Secretary

Hi Everyone!
This is my first post so be patient. This trip has been so life changing for me from the moment we left ASU. I truly appreciate the opportunity to experience this adventure. I have seen so much that it will be hard to describe to everyone on a post, so I will simply hit on the highlights for now and add more later.

At first when we arrived and toured the city, I was a little dishearten to see the people begging on the street and selling what nots on every corner (I guess I still am) but now I know a little more about their economic background and realize that this is all that some of these people know to do. We were shown other parts of town that day where people lived that weren´t so dramatic. The main thing that will stand out in my mind is getting to see the Christo. It really renewed my spituality. Little did I know at that time how much I would think about my religion throughout the trip.

We have experienced an O´hoa, which is the burning of cocoa leaves in a ceremony asking the spirits and elders for good luck and well blessings. We have listened to various music groups from across the country and watched locals dance to some of the most beautiful music in the land. We watched as locals participated in a funeral mass and then witnessed a local wedding at a church in Tarata. Very exciting! We visited a monestary in Tarata and was granted permission to visit their library which dates back to the early 1700´s.

Whew! The adventure continues on ... the day we went to Tarata, we visited a pottery shop. This meant so much to me since my husband is related to the Bolick family potters from the Blackberry community of North Carolina.

The main event was yesterday. We finally delivered the books to the children of the Biblioteca Thúruchapitas. How exciting to see the looks on the children´s faces as they saw the piles and piles of books. Between the Library Science and the Human psychological Counseling groups from Appalachian State well over 1000 books were carried down from the United States to the children´s library. These books will be passed out among the community volunteers so that children all over Cochabamba will be able to have the opportunity to read.

There is so much to write about and so little time. So many things that I have witnessed this week that in the United States we take for granted. Necessities like running water, electricity, and food aren´t always available for some of the people. But they make adjustments and continue on.

Again I would like to thank everyone for allowing me this opportunity to grow spiritually and mentally.

TTFN (Ta Ta For Now) :-)

Karen Laws
Administrative Assistant
LES Dept
Appalachian State University