I fly out June 8, arriving in Cochabamba for my internship on June 9, and I will be there until early December.
the place:
Mosoj Yan is a small organization in Cochabamba, Bolivia that serves children "en situación de calle" through its three centers - el Centro de Motivación, el Centro de Restauración ("Casa Albergue"), and el Centro de niñas y adolescentes trabajadoras.
I will most likely be working at el Centro de Motivación, which focuses on outreach to children who are currently living on the streets. If everything works out as we've been planning, I will be teaching photography during my six months, mostly to teenage girls (thanks everyone for the camera donations!). My hope is that this will be a unique opportunity for the girls to find healing and a new means of self-expression.
title reference:
The title of this blog, "with fire & always with hope," is a reference to a favorite poem of mine by Ben Okri (which I also used as my blog title last year while I was in Guatemala):
We are the miracles that God made
To taste the bitter fruit of Time.
We are precious.
And one day our suffering
Will turn into the wonders of the earth.
There are things that burn me now
Which turn golden when I am happy.
Do you see the mystery of our pain?
That we bear the povery
And are able to sing and dream sweet things.
And that we never curse the air when it is warm
Or the fruit when it tastes so good
Or the lights that bounce gently on the waters?
We bless the things even in our pain.
We bless them in silence.
That is why our music is so sweet.
It makes the air remember.
There are secret miracles at work
That only Time will bring forth.
I too have heard the dead singing.
And they tell me
This life is good
They tell me to live it gently
With fire, and always with hope.
There is wonder here
And there is surprise
In everything the unseen moves.
The ocean is full of songs.
The sky is not an enemy.
Destiny is our friend.
Thank you to everyone who will be walking with me on this journey.
Bendiciones.
