By Gastón Gertner Back in 2010, as an Argentine attending grad school in the United States, a close friend of mine introduced me to the free text-messaging service called WhatsApp. There was only a handful of us who used it on campus. Most of my American fellow students just used regular text messages, but for me, WhatsApp offered a free way of staying in touch with my … [Read more...] about WhatsApp: A tool for development work in Bolivia
Bolivia
The Juana Azurduy Voucher Program: health services for mothers and their children
“I didn’t go to the health center because it took a long time, and on top of that they treated me badly,” recounted a Quechua woman in the town of Oruro, Bolivia. “We have our own customs for childbirth”. She is not alone in those views. According to a recent national survey, the main reason why women avoid prenatal care is distrust of health personnel (26 percent). … [Read more...] about The Juana Azurduy Voucher Program: health services for mothers and their children
Short-term triggers of agricultural productivity in Bolivia
Thanks to the implementation of CRIAR's program, beneficiary households diversify their crop portfolio, producing nontraditional crops with greater value added in larger areas. At the same time beneficiary households are modifying their household economy, moving from self-sustainment toward a more market-oriented structure. Carlos Pacheco is one of 17,000 beneficiaries … [Read more...] about Short-term triggers of agricultural productivity in Bolivia
How to avoid building more bad roads?
By Graham Watkins* A month ago I was bumping along a dusty road in the Beni (Bolivia) from San Borja to San Ignacio de Moxos. Someone in the car said that this road had been named as the “worst road in the world.” That reminded me of a 36 hours trip on the Georgetown-Lethem road (Guyana). We only had to travel 60 kilometers in an old British Army Bedford truck, but the … [Read more...] about How to avoid building more bad roads?
Bolivia Expands Employment Services Program
By Manuel Enrique Urquidi Finding a job and entering the labor market is never easy — information about vacancies may be hard to find, the job seeker’s skills may not exactly match what a company needs, and employers may be reluctant to hire someone they don’t know personally. To help job seekers overcome such barriers, Bolivia began to expand and enhance coverage of its … [Read more...] about Bolivia Expands Employment Services Program