Educacion y Futuro (EdyFu

So for my month in Tarija, instead of taking more Spanish classes I decided that my Spanish was good enough to speak conversationally and that I could put my time to better use. Instead, every afternoon I volunteered at the local children's center, EdyFu.

EdyFu is a center for poor children to come to in the mornings or afternoon to either get help on homework for those struggling in school, or to take classes in trade jobs like gardening, electricity, or cooking. They have a kitchen which provides breakfast or lunch to kids who need it and they have an actual temporary housing facility for children.
Lastly, they have a system of godparents they use to get children sponsors in other countries.

While working at EdyFu, I spent some days assisting the gardening class (including taking the money that would have gone to my Spanish lessons and using it to buy earth, flowers, and seeds to build a new outdoor garden). I spent the other days assisting in the school help class. I also took two days to teach swim lessons in the pool they have on site!


Outside of the center, I contacted families back home and was able to secure three new families to sponsor children at the center; the first in the US! In order to provide information, I went with the directors to visit the families of these children out in their neighborhoods. This was absolutely eye-opening. The conditions many of these families are living in are so poor and repulsive. There are many with 8-10 kids in no more than two bedrooms for the whole family. Many had no running water and no bathroom in their house. It was a crazy experience, but made me very excited to be able to provide them with sponsor families back in the United States.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time at EdyFu. The other staff members were great and I made some awesome friends. The work I was doing felt really helpful and the kids were all so fun to work with. I'll definitely miss it!