On the Road
Bolivia: Visions of hope from 30,000 feet
Reflections on time spent visiting our affiliated projects
After more than a week in the mountains of Bolivia, I’m headed home — back to Richmond, Virginia, and my life of comparative ease and comfort. As the ground falls away beneath the plane, I’m staring out the window, trying to compose coherent thoughts, but they are lost amid a thousand mental images of the people and scenes I’ve experienced in the last few days. Our tour guide: An architect rises from poverty Roberto Andrade’s […]
Out of the Shadows to the Head of the Class
Proud moms raising role models at Villa Emilia
A positive role model can make all the difference. Single mothers in Santa Cruz, Bolivia are finding that out, and so are the children who look up to them. Sister Pilar Hidden behind the popular tourist destinations and modern attractions of Santa Cruz lurks the shadow side, where many children knew nothing but homelessness, poverty and crime–until Sister Pilar showed up. Sister Pilar and her fellow nuns at Villa Emilia regularly […]
These Kids’ Futures Just Got a Little Brighter
The Montero School in Bolivia has updated classrooms
Roberto Andrade and his wife, Verónica, are waiting for us when we step off the plane in hot, humid Santa Cruz. Roberto is an artist and an architect now, but he was once a little boy with enormous potential and struggling parents who worried about his future. They saw the talent and creativity in their son and knew that a quality education would help him develop into a happy, healthy adult. “Because the happiest people […]
Hope for Generation Z
Meet the children at Pedro Poveda, then and now
As we continue our tour of La Paz, we met Efrain, an energetic fourth-grader who lives near the Pedro Poveda School. Like any child, Efrain is proud of what he owns and likes to show his belongings to visitors. He shares an infectious smile with us as he holds up a prized pair of shoes Josefina has brought him. He’s equally excited to show us the kittens he’s raising. They sleep in their own little […]
Touchdown in La Paz
Sights and scenes from Bolivia's City in the Sky
Our Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, and I flew into La Paz just before sunrise, after an overnight trip from Richmond. I was woozy from fatigue or the elevation — 13,000 feet above sea level — and grateful when a young woman woke up at 4 am to check us into our hotel. A City in the Mountains I woke up as the sun rose, and got my first view of an amazing vertical […]
An Accomplished Artist
Former sponsor child Roberto Andrade visits with Children Incorporated staff
Children Incorporated staff members flip through Roberto’s art portfolio – a stunning collection of photo-realistic, surrealistic, and abstract works – in awe, while the artist himself looks on with humble delight. Simple child-art drawings – his earliest masterpieces – occupy the first few pages. Art wasn’t always a part of my life,” Roberto confesses in soft-spoken Spanish as he stands in the small office in Richmond, Virginia. He’s miles away from home, and yet among […]