How is leading an ICS project in Bolivia? – An account of more than a journey between two capitals

The quick answer to this is: exciting, stressful, scary, uplifting, challenging and…

 simply overwhelming.

And this realisation in itself has been somewhat overwhelming respectively surprising, as – to be honest – having led several international teams before as well as having spent some time backpacking in Ecuador and Peru last year, I did not expect to be challenged by the circumstances in Bolivia to such a great extent as I am right now. The ICS tagline “challenge yourself to change your world” really is true after all.

One of the main reasons for me might be that we are actually the first team to establish and work in an urban agriculture project for the International Service in Sucre. However, as it turned out only upon my arrival in the country, we are not working in a city project in Bolivia’s capital Sucre similar to the ones in La Paz, but about two bus hours outside in the Andean countryside.

After the first shock of finding our way through local communities and their social and natural environment (with up to 40°C for most of the day during our time here!), my Bolivian Co-Team Leader Jorge and I fell in love with the beauty of the people and their fruit and vegetable gardens, where we would be working together with them.

However, before that, I encountered the challenge of bringing six local volunteers from Sucre’s countryside to Bolivia’s second de facto capital La Paz, which lies about 14 hours by coach away.

Not only was I completely on my own with this task trying to communicate in the worst of the languages I am speaking, namely Spanish, as none of the local volunteers or community members speaks any English. 

But more interestingly, I had to find my way through social circumstances, local administration as well as bureaucracy for teenagers’ travel permissions in a country and culture which are totally new to me. And all this had to happen just after I had been there for about a week myself and suddenly I found myself responsible for six young volunteers from a completely different personal background whom I had only just met myself and whose families trusted me. Amazingly. 

This experience was definitely a great team building exercise helping us to bond beyond any cultural differences, back to the basics and pragmatic logistics of organising this big trip in no time. Meanwhile not only the local volunteers had to trust my lead, but I equally had to rely on their organisational talent to find and meet me at the coach station in Sucre with all their documents while they have virtually no phone service, let alone internet access whatsoever in most places they live.

Once in La Paz, Jorge and the International Service team were waiting for us with the British volunteers for crazy day-long training sessions within only 36 hours. 

Amongst general volunteer, team and team leader workshops, exercises and presentations, we saw the Bolivian volunteers teaching the Brits how to do traditional dancing and explaining their history and cultural customs by acting and singing in costumes and local dresses.

 Afterwards it was up to me again to get the now twelve volunteers (the six local ones plus the six British ones) back to the coach in La Paz’ rush hour for another 14-hour journey back to Sucre’s countryside, namely our little village Chuqui Chuqui.

We eventually managed to meet Jorge and the International Service staff in the coach station only a few minutes before departure time. I cannot tell how relieved I was when we finally arrived back in Sucre and got all our volunteers settled into their lovely host families in Chuqui Chuqui.

It has been an absolutely crazy first week for all the volunteers and team leaders, BUT…

We did it!

And our journey as a team is literally as described in Clean Bandit’s song to which I happened to listen while writing this account: “We’re a thousand miles from comfort, we have travelled land and sea, but as long as you are with me, there’s no place I’d rather be.”

By Bettina Wolff