IL PONTE 2000 Children who live in remote rural areas with their parents. They don't go to school and they rarely see any other people

After-school project for children in Bolivia

Arts and crafts at Il Ponte

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contact information IL PONTE PROJECT: Mirna Osuna and Luigi Cominetti Casilla 4455 - Santa Cruz - Bolivia ilponte00@hotmail.com A lucky child - his brothers carry him around on a cart	The Republic of Bolivia is situated in the very heart of South America. And in the eastern part of Bolivia is the Department of Santa Cruz, with its capital Santa Cruz de la Sierra. To the southeast of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, at a distance of 46 kilometres, is the locality of Jorochito, and it is near here that our project "Il Ponte 2000" is based. The district of Tarumà, where "Il Ponte 2000" operates, is a valley in the foothills of the Cordillera of the Andes. It has a thick subtropical Amazonian vegetation, and is situated at an altitude of 700 metres above sea level. The climate is tropical, with temperatures ranging from 40ºC in summer to 8ºC in winter, and a humidity level of 80-90%. Living conditions in Bolivia reflect its very depressed economy, characteristic of the so-called "third world countries". In the region around Santa Cruz, in particular, the rural economy relies on primitive agriculture, characterised by a growing influx of impoverished persons, displaced from the highlands by persistent drought and lack of government assistance. These new arrivals have a strong Andean culture and retain many of their traditions, such as the ch'alla ritual of giving thanks to Mother Earth for the good things received, by burning incense and other offerings, typically when coming into some material property.	A girl helping her mother mind a market stall in Cotoca

News! Our snazzy Il Ponte T-shirts were made possible by the fundraising efforts of Marisa and friends, from Varese (Italy). The children are immensely proud to have these shirts, and their very own logo.

Paying a visit to Miguelina (age 16) and her newborn baby daughter Diana. This hut is home to ten people !	The Bolivian health and education system is severely inefficient, and practically inexistent in large areas of the country, such as the district where "Il Ponte 2000" is based. According to UNICEF statistics, in this area the total illiteracy rate is 60%, while the functional illiteracy rate is 80%. Due to extreme poverty, children attend school for only 3 or 4 years. This problem is aggravated by the lack of a middle school or high school in the area. Despite the closeness of the city of Santa Cruz, the impoverishment of the population forces children to drop out of school, or never to attend at all, because they need to help their parents farm the land or extract building materials from the river.	Our neighbor Nicolasa, working near the river

Getting ready for the Carnival party Mirna overseeing the schoolroom	Seeing all this gave us the idea of starting up an "after school project" for children who already attend school, with the aim of encouraging them to continue their studies as long as possible. We work on conventional academic subjects as well as on sports and artistic activities such as handicrafts and painting. Because this is still a private and independent project, for the time being we are still reliant upon our own funds. This adventure was started by two people: Mirna Osuna, a Bolivian, and Luigi Cominetti, an Italian. Our original plan was to start with a group of approximately 30 children aged between 6 and 12, at least for the first year, to see how it worked out. However, within a week of opening we already had a crowd of all ages coming to our house and asking to take part. This showed us the deep need for this type of initiative, as well as the children's lively interest in any new offerings. Unfortunately, we have had to limit the number to 90 children, because we were not prepared for such an overwhelming response, and we lack practically everything. We are now functioning 3 times a week with three groups of 30 children each, working chiefly on hygiene, health education, sports and artistic activities, in addition to academic subjects such as language and social sciences. We also started an English class and were very surprised by how well it was welcomed by the children, especially the youngest ones. Special occasions such as Carnival and Mother's Day are also part of our activities, and are particularly enjoyed by all the children.	Schoolwork at Il Ponte

	The region suffers from numerous problems resulting from government indifference. During the rainy season, the Rio Piraì regularly floods large tracts of land, hampering communications between villages and even with the city of Santa Cruz. The problem is particularly serious for the smaller country roads, which virtually disappear. However this does not stop our students who defy all types of weather to come to our after-school meetings. For all these reasons, we saw the need to build a centre that would protect us from the elements (rain, wind, heat, cold), as well as providing accommodation for one or two helpers: hopefully a math teacher and a music teacher to harmonize the whole. The ideal situation would be to secure funding for a five-year budget covering the running costs of the "Il Ponte 2000" centre, to ensure a degree of continuity to the project. This will be our goal for the upcoming season.

Special Events: Carnival	Dancing the Saya for Mother's Day