The WALJOK Foundation
We partner with local organizations in Latin America
to provide life-changing education and better health.
AVP-QUAKER VIRTUAL STUDY TOUR of BOLIVIA
Between heaven and earth Bolivia floats, towed ever upward by the condors. — Oscar Alfaro.V
Visit Bolivia without leaving home. The WALJOK Foundation (waljok.org) invites you to join Earlham School of Religion Professor Ben Brazil and Bolivian AVP leader Magaly Quispe Yujra in a virtual tour to learn about this fascinating country of many extremes and see how Quaker values are expressed through the Alternatives To Violence Project (AVP) improve lives for thousands.
IMPROVING EDUCATION
Our AVP Student Residence in Sorata
In 2019, we were able to join with Magaly Quispe’s newly founded Bolivian non-profit organization AVP-PAV Bolivia to establish the AVP Student Residence in Sorata. Sorata is the administrative center for a
large area that encompasses 100 small communities. Many villages have schools that go only through sixth grade. Some have no schools. Sorata has 2 large public schools that include grades 1 through 12.
Our Student Residence provides a home away from home that enables students from rural villages to access high school. Professional staff include social workers, a certified teacher, and several specialists
who supplement the limited public school curriculum to help students broaden their experiences and qualify for university scholarships. Daily interactions are based on Alternatives to Violence principles and
practices.
Most of our graduates have been accepted to university and are fulfilling their dreams. Their studies include architecture, agricultural engineering, education, nursing, and more. Their professional careers may lift them, their parents, and future generations out of poverty.
What is AVP?
The Alternatives to Violence Project is a volunteer-run conflict transformation program. Trained facilitators lead experiential workshops to develop participants’ ability to resolve conflicts without resorting to manipulation, coercion, or violence. Founded by a group of Quakers and civil rights workers at the request of prisoners at Greenhaven prison in New York, it has now spread to all continents and is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Improving lives, today and tomorrow
Students enjoy working toward self-sufficiency, reducing their impact on the climate. They grow their own organic vegetables, buy only local products if possible, and their water is heated by the sun.
They have a major recycling project that can involve others. All year long they collect paper to recycle, engaging classmates and sometimes members of the community. Twice a year they recycle what they have gathered. First they shred it, then boil it for hours until it is a soft pulp. Then each one takes a turn at feeding some pulp carefully into a machine to create their own sheets paper, which they will use for writing special letters.
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HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOPS
INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS
In order to address Bolivia’s severe problem of domestic violence, we focus on prevention. Alternatives to Violence Program experiential workshops Prevention of Violence in Relationships in secondary schools help to promote gender equality, empower women, provide conflict resolution and communication skills for students, teachers and parents.
We promote mutual respect across cultural differences with personal friendships. For decades our Quaker Study Tours hosted visitors from many countries. Visiting the Student Residence was always a rich experience. Some long-term friendships were formed that enriched the lives of students and visitors. You can see above some letters from students to friends they met personally. To reduce our impact on the climate, we are now organizing a Virtual Study Tour.
EXPANDING EDUCATION
Help Improve lives through education.
Your can share in changing lives for young people in South America’s poorest country. Please click the button below or mail a check to
WALJOK, Exchange bank, 840 Gravenstein Hwy N Sebastopol, CA 95472
I Came to Serve
Adapted from August 2023 Friends Journal (with added photos)
By Magaly Quispe Yujra, with editorial support and translation by Barbara Flynn
Quakers and Alternatives to Violence in Bolivia
“Magaly! Magaly! Are we having a workshop?”
“Not this time,” I replied. “Today, I am bringing a friend from England to meet you.” Graham and I had just entered a maximum security prison in La Paz, Bolivia, leaving the guards behind.
Similar to prisons in other Latin American countries, the guards at Chonchocoro Prison are only at the gate. Once inside, visitors are pretty much on their own. The inmates roam freely throughout their area, with no bars and no locks. I assured Graham that my “friends deprived of liberty” would take care that we stayed safe. Bolivia has no death penalty, so Graham felt he was probably shaking the hands of murderers and was glad to know they appreciated me.
Be part of a change in the World
An effort made for the happiness of others lifts us above ourselves.
