Proyecto Horizonte Ushpa-Ushpa

Hi Christian, hi all,
please add me to the advocates or even better if possible, to an editor list so that i can post a blog / need for the sala de computacion.
thanks,
Miguel (Encargado de Computacion)

Die Organisation Horizonte lernte ich durch ein dreimonatiges Voluntariat näher kennen. Zuerst ist mir das überaus engagierte Team aufgefallen, durch dessen grenzenlosen Einsatz die Organisation lebt und sich entwickelt. Horizonte ist so vielschichtig, dass es eine ganzheitliche und nachhaltige Entwicklung der Gemeinde fördert und bewirkt. Ich habe mich überzeugt, dass jede Unterstützung ankommt und alles Vertrauen gerechtfertigt ist!

Hola!
I spent one month volunteering with Proyecto Horizonte, Uspha Uspha in March 2009. While here I was actively involved with a number of aspects of the project, including assisting in the Kindergarten, writing news for the website and newsletters and creating public relations materials. Not to mention a bit of ad-hoc dentistry!
I enjoyed 100% of my time working within this wonderful community. The people were very positive and inspirational in their striving for a better life for themselves and their children. The employees of the project were all dedicated, often working above and beyond the call of duty.
One of the greatest strengths of Proyecto Horizonte is its engagement with the local community. The vast majority of the employees are local Cochabambinos and thus feel like an important part of the growth and success of the project.
The project has been running for 5 years and although it would be easy to become complacent with the great success they have already seen, they continue to strive for improvement in all aspects of the project. There are grand plans for expansion of the school, health centre and microfinance opportunities. All of which will continue to improve the quality of life for the residents of the community.
While volunteering at the project I wrote the following article and photoessay which you can look at for more information:
Article: http://www.cocha-banner.org/issues/2009/may/one%20community-at-a-time/
Photo-essay: http://tinyurl.com/c6eb6o

I have spent six months working with different organizations in Cochabamba, Bolivia and among them, Proyecto Horizonte Ushpa-Ushpa. The organization is an amazing story of growth and involvement and it is quite impressive to hear how the project has grown from a small daycare and makeshift health center to a larger micro-development hub with a diverse array of services and activities all aimed at helping the community help itself. And indeed it has. When Horizonte first began its work, the town lacked a solid infrastructure and many of the habitations were built out of usable waste. But now, walking through the community of Mineros San Juan it brings a smile to your face to watch community members of all ages digging trenches for the installment of pipes to bring running water to their homes, a project that Horizonte facilitated the funding of. Even outside of our direct scope of operations, the economic plight of the village is improving organically and this is one of the most exciting aspects of the whole project as the long-term goal is build the community up enough so that it can take over the reins and sustain the project financially. The community has recognized the added value that Horizonte has brought to their community and members have taken an active part already in project participation.

This project truly does so much with so little. Donated monies go directly to the project and the project activities, there is no third party or off-site administration team. Since its inception, Horizonte has followed a policy of community-inspired, community-directed development and thus everything happens IN and WITH the community. Project management staff are all professional and dedicated to the cause. The Bolivian staff members have chosen to forgo much higher salaries elsewhere in favor of working at Proyecto Horizonte because they believe in what the project is doing and are committed to the success of the community. If you choose to donate to Proyecto Horizonte, whether your particular dollar goes toward helping treat a young child in our Health Center, or goes toward paying the salary of one of the teachers in the school, or buys some vegetables for one of the meals at the nursery, or it helps pay the electricity bill to help keep the lights on in our classrooms, rest assured, your money will be used effectively.