Lloyda, one of the health care workers with World Concern (our partner in Bolivia) arrived on a motorcycle about 15 minutes after we turned off the road on the way to our first stop in Cordillera. We were on the way to El Puente which would be our base while we were in Bolivia, about a 5 hour car ride on a two lane road from Santa Cruz. It turns out that motorcycles are the best form of transportation for the health care workers traveling to some of the most remote rural villages, as they are much easier to navigate around the endless potholes that polka dot every road we’ve seen.

On arriving in Cordillera, Fatima (World Concern’s Country Director) and Felicidad (a Program Director), immediately organized the women and children and began with an education session about vitamin A and parasites. The distribution reaches about 90 children from this small community. The need is immediately apparent. Most of the children have some combination of running noses, hacking coughs, skin problems and faded brittle hair, all confirmation of World Health Organization’s statistics of vitamin A deficiency (22%), anemia (52%) and chronic malnutrition for Bolivia’s poor (55% live in extreme poverty). Cordillera, like most of the villages we will visit has so little; no running water, no electricity, no secure food supply, no regular medical help. Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in South America, with one of the lowest life expectancies, and the people in communities like this one face myriad of challenges.

It is wonderful watching Lloyda talk with these people in Guarani (the local dialect) and make sure that all of the women in the village know we are here. You can see that her regular visits have built up a level of trust with the people. I think about Lloyda’s story which Fatima told me earlier; how she grew up in one of these poor rural villages and first met World Concern at age twelve, when they came to her community ten years ago. I can imagine a young girl like the children we are meeting today, watching and wondering who these people are. A few years later, Lloyda’s parents who valued education (rare for many of Bolivia’s indigenous people) approached World Concern for help so Lloyda could continue her education. The national office arranged for a scholarship. Then a couple of years ago, when Fatima asked the University for a candidate for a health care worker position they were developing, she was pleasantly surprised when Lloyda was the student they recommended. Watching Lloyda is a great way to begin the trip and reflect on all that is possible with the next generation of children whose lives we touch today.