The Novogratz Bridge Year Program in Bolivia introduces participants to a variety of social and economic concerns facing this astonishingly diverse nation.  Participants live with homestay families in the semi-rural community of Tiquipaya, located on the outskirts of the vibrant metropolis of Cochabamba. Host to a wide range of important social, cultural, political, and environmental organizations, Tiquipaya and Cochabamba are ideal places to explore contemporary issues in environmental preservation, indigenous heritage, and the nation’s current political transformation. Working with local community partners, participants support community development initiatives in human rights, racism and discrimination, environmental education, climate change, the arts, gender equity, LGBT rights, and public health. Along the way, Bridge Year students deepen their understanding of local culture, develop their language skills, and visit some of Bolivia’s most captivating places. 

In Bolivia, Princeton University partners with Where There Be Dragons. For over 30 years, Dragons has specialized in culturally immersive, meaningful, and educational travel opportunities for students in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Through their international programming, Dragons focuses on sustainable community engagement, empowerment of students and local partners, professional skill building, and expert mentorship. Dragons has worked in partnership with Princeton University and the Novogratz Bridge Year Program since 2009. 

Program itineraries are subject to change based on conditions that impact local travel logistics, public health, and participant safety.

Arrival and Orientation

The Novogratz Bridge Year Program in Bolivia introduces participants to a variety of social and economic concerns facing this astonishingly diverse nation.  Participants live with homestay families in the semi-rural community of Tiquipaya, located on the outskirts of the vibrant metropolis of Cochabamba. Host to a wide range of important social, cultural, political, and environmental organizations, Tiquipaya and Cochabamba are ideal places to explore contemporary issues in environmental preservation, indigenous heritage, and the nation’s current political transformation. Working with local community partners, participants support community development initiatives in human rights, environmental education, climate change, the arts, gender equity, LGBT rights, and public health. Along the way, Bridge Year students deepen their understanding of local culture, develop their language skills, and visit some of Bolivia’s most captivating places.

In Bolivia, Princeton University partners with Where There Be Dragons, an organization specializing in overseas experiential education. Since their founding in 1993, Dragons has managed hundreds of unique small-group service learning programs in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Dragons is dedicated to inspiring youth leadership and responsible global engagement through community-based service projects and cultural exchange.

Fall Enrichment Program

After completing orientation, Bridge Year participants travel four hours north to Potosi Department and take part in a 4-day trek in the beautiful Torotoro National Park. The park is well known for its unique landscape of caves, rivers, fossilized dinosaur footprints, canyons and condors. Participants spend four days backpacking and practicing backcountry skills, led by local community members who have launched a tourism project to share the majesty of their community with visitors.

After the trek, participants take part in a two-week community-engaged learning experience in and around Cochabamba. During this time, participants live together in shared accommodations in the center of Cochabamba.

Included below are organizations that may be visited during the Fall Enrichment Program:

• CEDIB is a non-profit organization located two blocks from the main square of Cochabamba. Since 1970, the organization has investigated and documented social and environmental issues in Bolivia and Latin America, generating critical information related to the defense of human and environmental rights.
• La Madriguera is a theater group that supports community activism.
• Las Lomas is a collective of women construction workers. The collective works to promote women’s leadership and income-earning opportunities. They also work to improve women's access to housing and basic social services.
• Tijaraipa is a collective of women who narrate their histories through weaving. 
• CIOEC is an institution that connects and represents several peasant associations working with agriculture, livestock, and handicrafts.

Arrival in Tiquipaya

At the end of September, Bridge Year students engage in a five-day orientation that helps participants better understand regional socio-political issues and prepare for their homestay and local community engagement experiences. Orientation also provides students with a thorough introduction to both Tiquipaya and Cochabamba, including practical skills to help participants find their way around and begin to connect with the community. 

Homestay

Program participants live with families in and around Tiquipaya, a semi-rural community 30 minutes west of Cochabamba. The homestay provides an opportunity to deepen language skills, establish a relationship with a local family, and integrate more fully into the community. While most families are of Quechua descent, Spanish is the primary language spoken at home. Participants can expect modest but comfortable accommodations within easy access to public transportation. Most meals are prepared and eaten with the homestay family. The bonds developed between students and families often prove to be among the most memorable and meaningful aspects of the Bridge Year experience. 

Language Instruction

From October to December, Bridge Year participants receive intensive Spanish language instruction two to three hours per day, four days a week, from experienced and respected local teachers. From January through March, language classes continue, but with less intensity and depending upon individual student interest. Additionally, Quechua classes are offered for those who wish to acquire proficiency in the most common indigenous language spoken in Cochabamba province. Language instruction and mentoring are available to students for the full duration of their time in Bolivia.

Placements with Community Organizations

Participants spend 20-30 hours per week, collaborating with local community organizations. Travel time to and from a placement varies by assignment but can range from a 15-minute walk to an hour-long ride on public transport. Staff orient students to their respective assignments and provide continuous support throughout the program. Below is a list of community partner organizations in and around Tiquipaya and potential activities. This list is not comprehensive but provides examples of the types of assignments in which students might be placed.

• Kusi Kuna Escuela Ecoactiva is a small alternative school and learning community that strives to nurture the growth of young people in ways that prepare them to face the challenges of our modern world. Kusikuna is situated on a small farm with sustainable, ecological structures and works with children and families from a diversity of backgrounds. Community-engaged learning opportunities depend on the participant’s interest and skill set but could include developing an arts or music program, leading after-school and athletic activities, supporting the agroecology program, teaching in the natural sciences, and community and family outreach.
• Fundación Abril was founded in the wake of the Cochabamba Water Revolt in 2001, in which civilian protests reversed the privatization of the city’s municipal water system. Today, the organization works towards the preservation and recuperation of water as a public good, the reinforcement and improvement of community water systems, to enhance labor rights, and on community and environmental education in harmony with the environment and cultural traditions. Currently, the foundation is developing a large-scale urban gardens and school gardens project in Cochabamba and surrounding Valle Alto communities. Volunteer opportunities include supporting the urban and school gardens project, documenting the activities of the Foundation through writing, film and other multi-media, research on public policy in Bolivia and elsewhere, Spanish to English translation, networking and outreach, and support with a rainwater catchment project in Valle Alto and Tiquipaya communities.
• Mano a Mano supports rural communities through comprehensive projects in health, education, and infrastructure. Mano a Mano’s primary work is to build clinics, schools, and roads and provide training for local professionals in health and education. The organization also provides medical supplies to clinics around the country, enhances access to clean water, and facilitates training in agroecology and environmental conservation. Community-engaged learning opportunities include supporting agro-ecology projects, environmental education initiatives, construction projects, and training programs in mechanics and furniture making.
• Community of Social Studies and Public Action (Ciudadania) is a private and non-profit civil association dedicated to the task of producing socially relevant knowledge, dialogue and public action to facilitate, promote and influence social processes aimed at improving, through the exercise of citizenship, the quality of life of the sectors of Bolivians who suffer various types of exclusion.
• Infante provides psychological support, skills training, and safe living spaces for women and children who have suffered domestic abuse or other forms of violence.  The organization also engages in research, public policy initiatives, and awareness campaigns promoting principles of respect, dignity and equality. Lastly, Infante operates a Montessori-inspired primary school. Community-engaged learning opportunities may include supporting the English-language program at the Montessori school, leading workshops, and supporting administrative tasks.
• The Bolivian Institute for Human Development (IDH) works to improve the quality of life of the Bolivian people through research, education, and activism in the fields of public health, human rights, and environmental justice. IDH is one of Bolivia’s leading organizations in the research, prevention, and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Community-engaged learning opportunities include supporting HIV/AIDS prevention education programs in local schools, organizing and participating in public health festivals, assisting with advocacy work, grant writing, web design, editing, and general administrative support.
• Radio Cepra is an NGO Radio Station with more than 20 years of work in the field. They work with almost 25 different communities in the region, providing news and satellite signal to other stations to reach communities in far rural areas. Radio Cepra is been working with communities to listen to their needs and help to battle against disinformation. For the past 6 years they've been working in a radio that opens as a platform for people to hear other people and their demands instead of only sharing their content.

Cultural Enrichment Activities

Over the course of the program, local experts and other guest lecturers are invited to discuss diverse topics including Bolivian history, Andean spirituality, land relationships, gender issues, the arts, environmental justice, and the nation’s current social and  political transformation.

Bridge Year participants also take part in at least two program-sponsored, multi-day excursions. Excursion destinations depend on many factors including weather, time constraints, student interest, and relevance to the overall program, but a number of different options are available. These include a trek in the Andes, a visit to the coca-producing region of Chapare, a trip to the mines in Potosí and the colonial capital city of Sucre, a hike through Tunari National Park, and a trip to the Salar de Uyuni. To the greatest extent possible, participants are given ownership over the research, planning, and management of logistics for these group expeditions.

Finally, Bridge Year participants have the opportunity to engage in independent projects and mentorships in topics such as Bolivian music, dance, weaving, cooking, organic farming, and Andean cosmo-vision. The activity may correspond to or directly enrich the service assignment or may simply serve to enhance understanding and appreciation of Andean and Bolivian cultures. 

Spring Enrichment Program

In the final months of the program, Bridge Year participants work as a group to plan, organize, and execute a two to three-week excursion that takes students overland from Tiquipaya to La Paz.  Departing Tiquipaya in late April, the excursion offers opportunities for rural homestays, service learning experiences, meetings with local organizations, and a multi-day trek in the surrounding mountain ranges. The experience invites students to broaden their perspectives on service learning, development topics, and environmental issues, as well as further explore Bolivia’s cultural, spiritual, and linguistic dynamism. 

Program Wrap-up

The final week of the Novogratz Bridge Year Program in Bolivia takes place on the shores of the three-million year old Lake Titicaca, which the Incas believed to be the birthplace of the sun.  Here, participants engage in a Transference Workshop to examine lessons learned from their Bridge Year experience and reflect on their return home, their goals for the future, and the ways in which they can best integrate their experience into daily life at Princeton.

• Program Location: Tiquipaya, Bolivia 
• Country Name: Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia (Spanish)
• Population: 12,054,379 (Bolivia); 53,904 (Tiquipaya)
• National Symbol: Whipala, llama, Andean condor, serpent, puma
• Languages: Bolivia's 2009 constitution designates Spanish and all indigenous languages as official; 36 indigenous languages are specified.
• Religions: Roman Catholic 76.8%, Evangelical and Pentecostal 8.1%, Protestant 7.9%, other 1.7%, none 5.5%
• Currency: Bolivianos
• Fast Fact: Bolivia has the world’s largest salt flat, which covers 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi) of the area and is 3,656 meters above sea level. It is almost 100 times larger than the famous Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.