We’ve been in Cochabamba for two weeks now, and our role has changed significantly from last week. While we’ve been primarily focused on youth outreach in rural Cochabamba, we’re now brainstorming fundraising ideas and been working on designs for the bicimaquinas.
The idea of the “BiciCafe” has been in the works for a while now. The proposed plan is a cafe where customers could make their own juices, coffees, or smoothies. We would implement the eco-technologies, such as solar ovens/cookers and ecotoilets, that CECAM has developed. Not only is the plan environmentally friendly, but it would allow CECAM to be self-sustaining. The BiciCafe would bring in funds to help develop more bicimaquinas that would aid families in rural Bolivia. It would decrease the reliance on donations, making it a sustainable source of income for the organization.
In addition to our new role, we also participated in the Kanarancho Phampaku festival. Phampaku is a traditional Bolivian dish made of duck, guinea pig, and pig. We used this festival to sell phampaku, and to display all of our bicimaquinas. The machines on display included the biciliquadora, where customers could make their own juice, the bici-desgranadora, a machine families could use to easily take kernels off of their dried corn. We also had cargo bikes, two person kids bikes, and an adult tricycle on display. There was a lot of community interest in these bicimaquinas, as they were efficient and use zero electricity. There were even some buyers that came out of this display, so you could really say it was our time to shine.
We had some support from our friends at Sustainable Bolivia who made it out to Tiquipaya for the festival. If there’s one thing we’ve really enjoyed from our time here, it’s all the people we’ve met through Sustainable Bolivia. Everyday, we hear about all the different projects everyone is working on. It can range from working with children in prison, to hosting Model UN conferences that anyone in Bolivia can attend. Projects are varied, but they all share the same goal of helping Bolivia. It’s really amazing that we’re almost halfway done with our time here. There’s still so much left to do, and it feels like we just arrived yesterday.