Well, I’m stuck in Miami at the moment. I was supposed to arrive in La Paz at 6:30am this morning. Instead I will arrive there at 6:30am tomorrow. My flight from Chicago to Miami was delayed just long enough for me to miss my connecting flight from Miami to La Paz. So, I stayed in a casino/hotel near the Everglades on the outskirts of Miami last night, paid for by American Airlines. There is only one flight a day from Miami to La Paz, so I am now in the airport waiting until then! So I thought I would take this time to write a bit about what it is exactly that I will be doing while I am in Bolivia.

I am going to be volunteering with UNICEF-Bolivia on a large project called PRODELI (Programa de Desarrollo Local Integrado – or in English: Program for Integrated Local Development). The program contains several divisions, one of which is water, sanitation and hygiene. This is the division in which I will be working. The project covers 60 rural municipalities in 6 departments (regions) of the country, in the Andes and Amazon Basin. In general, the objective is to improve the coverage of water supply and sanitation, and build community and institutional capacity in water and sanitation services, all in order to improve the quality of life of the population.

Specifically, it is expected that I will be doing the following (I say expected because my job description will probably change often to include more work!):
- Investigating methods of improving the impact on health of ecological latrines
- Investigating, monitoring, and improving the quality of water in communities
- Undertaking an investigation into solar disinfection of water and whether the technique can be used at high altitude
- Verifying the technologies being used to improve water quality in and determining if there are better alternatives
- Supporting inter-sectoral activities within the project, including hygiene education
- Helping with 2008 project planning

I will be doing fieldwork to accomplish all this, which means I will be spending time in the municipalities. But I will mainly be working at the UNICEF office in La Paz. All my work will be conducted in Spanish. In the villages, many people may only speak indigenous languages, so I will have to communicate with people there through an interpreter.

Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in South America, and has one of the largest indigenous populations. To date, I haven’t heard anyone say anything negative about Bolivia and it’s surprising how many people have been there! I’m really looking forward to the work I will be doing for the next year. It’s going to be busy though! I doubt I will ever be lacking for something to do. I’ve spoken with the office and they are ready for me to arrive, so I will hit the ground running later this week!