About WALJOK
We work collaboratively with grassroots initiatives in Latin American communities to improve lives through education and health services.
Our History
WALJOK was founded in 1990 as a 501(c)(3) organization by former Peace Corps volunteers who served in Guatemala. The name “WALJOK” is a Mayan word that means progress or success, reflecting the organization’s commitment to positive change.
Beginning in 1998, WALJOK helped expand and fund volunteer work in Latin America, collaborating with local residents. These initiatives included building homes, schools, community centers, and a shelter for victims of abuse. Other work included establishing water projects in Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador and supplying health care volunteers to collaborate with local providers.
Since 2004, WALJOK has worked closely with local leaders and nonprofit organizations in Bolivia, like the Bolivian Quaker Education Fund (BQEF), which supports university scholarships for indigenous Quakers. Until 2018 Barbara Flynn, while managing the Waljok foundation, also ran Quaker Study Tours to projects funded by Waljok, BQEF, and Quaker Bolivia Link in Bolivia through her Treasures of the Andes Corporation. The tours are now being continued by BQEF (www.BQEF.org). In 2006, WALJOK and BQEF jointly established an internado—a residential facility in the town of Sorata that enabled students from remote mountain villages to attend high school.
The WALJOK Books for Peace program provided resources such as a Study Room adjacent to the office in La Paz and a dedicated room in the internado. These spaces gave students access to a library of books, computers, a printer, and other equipment, all designed to support their learning.
In 2018, BQEF ended the partnership with WALJOK, and closed the internado due to operational challenges. At the same time, Magaly Quispe, a graduate of the BQEF scholarship program, expanded her work with the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) and began establishing her own non-profit organization, AVP/PAV Bolivia. Together, WALJOK and Magaly created the AVP Student Residence in Sorata, which has excelled in supporting students’ educational endeavors and has received numerous awards.
In addition to managing the AVP Student Residence, WALJOK’s partnership with Magaly now encompasses AVP community workshops, AVP workshops for high school students and parents, AVP workshops in 21 prisons, and support for inmates in four prisons as they construct and maintain greenhouses. These greenhouses provide fresh fruits and vegetables in the inmates’ diets for the first time. WALJOK is now the primary financial supporter of all Magaly’s activities, which continue to improve the lives of many thousands of Bolivians. All of us at WALJOK express deep gratitude for the support that makes this vital work possible.
Our Leadership
Our Board of Directors is composed of 5 active volunteers: Barbara Flynn, president, and 4 other members with expertise in medicine, construction, business management and/or education. Most have been active volunteers in our projects in Latin America. We invite volunteers who want to share in our work. We especially need someone to handle outreach and publicity on social media. We are an all-volunteer organization, with the exception of minimal expenses to update our website.
Barbara Flynn
Founder & Executive Director
After a career in education, Barbara Flynn became president of the WALJOK Foundation in 2000 and has since dedicated her energy to humanitarian and educational efforts in Bolivia. She also led Quaker Study Tours that integrated service projects, fostering life-changing connections between international visitors and local communities. Since 2018, WALJOK has partnered with Magaly Quispe to continue supporting the AVP work that brings a culture of non-violence to Bolivia.
Mylo Schaaf
Board Member
Mylo Schaaf is member at large of the WALJOK Board of Directors. She teamed with Barbara Flynn and her students on many WALJOK trips to Mexico, El Salvador, and Bolivia. Her focus has been on working with local physicians, students, and services to improve health care in low-resource, international settings. She is a physician and professor, retired from the University of California, San Francisco.
Patti Callahan
Board Member
Patti Callahan lives in Santa Rosa, California, with her sweetheart husband, Davis Bernstein. She is retired from a career as a registered nurse working primarily in inpatient psychiatric settings and then as a department manager in county Mental Health. Currently she volunteers with numerous organizations including the WALJOK Foundation. She attends Redwood Forest Friends Meeting.
David Allegoren
Board Treasurer
David Allegoren has been WALJOK Foundations’s treasurer since 2006. As a general contractor (now retired) he has also enjoyed supervising WALJOK volunteers on numerous construction projects in Mexico, El Salvador, and Bolivia. David has also supervised volunteers on construction projects as the Construction Supervisor for a local Habitat for Humanity chapter.
Jim Morgan
Board Secretary
Jim Morgan is currently Secretary of the Board of Directors. He first became involved with Friends In Bolivia on five of the Quaker Study Tours starting in 2010, a year after retiring from years working in library technology and administration. He joined the WALJOK board in 2015, and the Bolivian Quaker Education Fund Board in 2018. He is a member of Pittsburgh Friends Meeting.