We are Called to be Lights of Hope, Peace, and Love: Last Bolivian Blog

Lastly, the oldest team that I coached with the basketball program, was a mix of guys and girls 15-18 years old. They wanted to go on a camping trip, so thats what we did. We loaded up all our stuff into a mini bus at 6 in the morning to make the 2 hour drive to our camp site. (kewiña) When we arrived, we got our stuff in our cabin and made our way straight to the rock wall. All the kids participated and made it to the top of at least one of the levels of the rock wall. My dad, cousin Julie, and myself participated as well. We were all very impressed and humbled to see Fanny, one of the girls from the team, make her way to the top of each of the different levels. She was the only person that made it up the most challenging part of the wall. Her determination was very impressive to watch. Many times I thought she was stuck or was going to quit but she just kept going with seemingly in-exhaustive forearm strength. I´m convinced she has all that forearm strength from washing clothes by hand-but thats just my excuse I guess.

After our morning rock wall activity, the kids prepared us lunch (silpancho). We had a little down time to rest in the afternoon before going out for a late afternoon hike. We made our way back just before dark. One group started preparing dinner, and others helped get a big camp fire going. We had fire roasted apples (healthier than s`mores:) as well as music and singing with the guitar. We finished off the night with a shortened version of the challenge obstacle course that we did with the other younger teams.

The next morning we decided to have a team hike at 6 am in order to get to the top of the hill/mountain as the sun was coming up. Well, we awoke to rain and I was thinking we should just cancel the hike because it would be all muddy and dangerous with footing. As I was ready to go back to bed Fanny and Mayerlin told me, ¨come on coach, its not raining that hard.¨ That was all I needed to hear. We were up, some needed the additional help of a little cold water, but we all got up and were on our way.

So on our climb, we totally missed the path and instead made our own through brush and not so pleasant climbing conditions. It was challenging and steep for awhile and it was fun to see the kids working together to help out their teammates and friends in some of the more difficult spots. We were living teamwork out on a more practical level and it was needed. Not only the physical help but the mental and emotional encouragement to continue on. We had some other twists and turns along the way, some positive, others more challenging, but we eventually all made it to the top. Instead of seeing the sun come up at the top we were hit with even harder rain and clouds. We spent some time reflecting on our climb and some things that they learned from it. Even though it was challenging along the way, they were all satisfied that they didn`t take the easy road of staying in bed. They felt a sense of accomplishment, an experience that they will always remember-probably more fondly now that its done:) I think this experience has a lot to teach me, the kids who climbed, and to a degree you who are reading.

We got back from our cold hike to some warm breakfast (api), that the adults prepared, and we couldn`t have been more thankful for something hot. Afterwards, we packed our stuff together and made our way back to Cochabamba. The trip was great fun and an unforgettable way to finish off a very special year. I won`t soon forget the kids who made this last year such a success. To everyone who participated with, la escuela de basquét, I hope we can find a way to make it a possibility for you again next year.

This blog ends my writing about my time in Bolivia. I hope to be able to update you soon on what I am looking to pursue next.