Family greenhouses in Bolivia make all the difference
Malnutrition is one of the biggest problems facing sponsorship communities in Bolivia. However, with your help families have built greenhouses where they can now grow vegetables their parents never even knew the name for. Children now eat a variety of vegetables, and they don’t get sick anymore. Getting their five a day has made all the difference.
By Wilson Cabrera, Communicator World Vision Bolivia
It is around seven in the morning, and the sun hasn’t yet had a chance to warm the small village nestled in the hills of southern Bolivia. It is very cold and everyone walks with their shoulders hunched, huddled under aguayos (blankets), trying to retain some heat. Many are practically barefoot; the plastic sandals on their feet offer little to no insulation from the cold. What does give them some warmth however, is breakfast, which is a hot soup with potatoes, dehydrated potato, and some meat and vegetables.
Eight-year-old Ronald is from one of the 17 families living in this small village. Every day he and his little brothers wake to singing roosters. The smell of burning eucalyptus drifts into their room from the other simple thatched cottages of the community, signalling that breakfast is being made.
Ronald’s mum is 35 year old Florencia, and she explains what a difference all the vegetables are making for her children. “When we were little we never ate vegetables, we didn’t know them. Our parents sometimes went to the nearest town to exchange potatoes for onions or sometimes carrots.”
Ronald’s father, Florentino, does not hide his satisfaction when talking about the benefits of the new greenhouse. "We did not eat vegetables before because we had to go far to buy them, they cost too much and we finished them fast. We didn’t know vegetables, not even from books. Once my mother and I went to the market and we saw beautiful red tomatoes. I asked my mother what they were, but she just told me to be quiet. Then, I realised that my mother did not know tomatoes either. This land doesn’t produce vegetables because of the height, but now we produce our own thanks to the greenhouses,” Florentino explains. Tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and chard have now all become part of his family’s diet.
The children head off to school after quickly spooning up vegetable soup for breakfast. Ronald and his ten-year-old sister Guadalupe are very small, and they have to walk for over an hour through the hills to reach their school. Along the path they meet several other children who also walk from their villages to get to the central school.
"No, for us it's not that far.” Ronald reflects, “We are already used to it. We walk through the little path. We don’t play much because otherwise we’ll be late to school. And we don’t play in the afternoon on our way back, because it can get dark," Ronald explains.
"The first thing they do when they get home from school is eat dinner. They eat a lot because they arrive hungry and tired, but still, they want to continue going to school. I want that too. Ronald is the best student in his class,” Florentino explains proudly. “Guadalupe is falling behind a bit but she can do it. My son always does better than her - he is very lively.”
Florentino confirms that the benefits of the sponsorship programme have been huge. "Last year we had enough potatoes to feed the whole family. Now, we are happy with our guinea pigs. We have been told that their meat is more nutritious compared to other animals. We're just waiting for them to have broods. My daughter, Maurita, has grown fond of them. They are pets to her and she kisses them. I suspect that later, she might not want to eat guinea pig meat!”
"Our children are happy now; they are healthier and smarter than us,” Florentino adds proudly.
Sunset arrives in Ronald’s small village. The lights go on in the houses and again smoke comes out of the huts. Once again, dinner will include vegetables, colourful food that brightens the lives of the people in these communities nestled among the hills.