Location
  • Bolivia
    • Cochabamba
Length
9 to 13 weeks

Program Details

Timeframe
Fall Spring Summer Winter Year Round
Housing
Host Family
Language
Spanish
Weekly Hours
40
Age Min.
17

Pricing

Price Details
SUMMER: 
9 Weeks:  $4300
 10 Weeks:  $4500
 11 Weeks: $4700
 12 Weeks: $4900
13  Weeks: $5100

WINTER / SPRING / FALL
9 Weeks:  $3970
 10 Weeks:  $4170
 11 Weeks: $4370
 12 Weeks: $4570
13  Weeks: $4770
What's Included
Accommodation Some Activities Airport Transfers Meals SIM cards Transportation Travel Insurance
Jan 24, 2020
Dec 18, 2015
8 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

FSD's Bolivia program supports the efforts of our local partner organizations to bring community-driven development to people who need it most. Plagued by rampant corruption, the people have very little access to land, health care, education, along with many other issues. FSD's programs promote collaboration to enhance the capacity of individuals and organizations to address these local issues.

Video and Photos

Program Highlights

  • Surrounded by the Andes Mountains, Amazonian Rainforest, and Lake Titicaca, Bolivia offers one of the most spectacular and unique environments in the world. Our site located in Cochabamba is set in a fertile valley with a strong political movement.
  • Receive intensive training in skills essential to sustainable development such as community asset mapping, needs assessments, collaborative project design, grant writing, and project monitoring and evaluation.
  • Assist in the training of teachers at rural schools, while organizing community activities for parents, teachers, and local authorities, to maximize available resources and resolve education-related problems.
  • Gain valuable project management skills through building houses, planting trees, and working with city officials and community leaders to help improve water quality, garbage management and composting systems.
  • Change lives by implementing public policy campaigns regarding public health and access to education, write reform and policy proposals addressing human rights and local land use, and lobby local government officials.

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Program Reviews

5.00 Rating
based on 4 reviews
  • 5 rating 100%
  • 4 rating 0%
  • 3 rating 0%
  • 2 rating 0%
  • 1 rating 0%
  • Growth 4.75
  • Support 4.5
  • Fun 4.75
  • Housing 4.5
  • Safety 4.25
Showing 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Default avatar
Kimberly
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Awesome Organization with Awesome Values

You can tell that everyone here cares about the work that is done with the partner organizations on the ground. The fact that they are so knowledgeable and passionate about grassroots sustainable development makes it easier on those of us going abroad.

The host families were a huge plus with this organization, they really choose families who are interested in your well being and having someone join their family as opposed to seeing visitors as paychecks.

Also learned a lot first hand about grant writing!

57 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Kelly
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Amazing service learning experience

Interning with FSD in Cochabamba, Bolivia was life changing for me (as cliche as that sounds). It really helped me realize that I wanted to affect environmental change through youth advocacy and education. I had a lot of opportunity to self-reflect while in Bolivia and experienced amazing self-actualization and personal growth. My internship with FSD helped me professionally as well and was instrumental in securing my fellowship with Climate Corps Bay Area and Environmental Education nonprofit, the Green Ninja Project where I am currently at. Mauricio the onsite director is the bomb. I hope others will choose to participate in FSD's Bolivia program and take the time to do some self discovery by traveling!

What would you improve about this program?
The experience is what you make of it. The more effort and time you put into the project and in developing your community the more meaningful the program and experience will be. My time with FSD in Bolivia although at times very challenging helped shape and mold my current values and interests.
57 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Aileen
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

FSD Bolivia: Discovering local power in a global context

They call Cochabamba, Bolivia "The City of Eternal Spring." My choice to intern abroad with the Foundation for Sustainable Development in Cochabamba truly invested me in an eternal spring. My experience with FSD brought fresh ideas into bloom, grew global relationships and showed me the power that local communities hold.

FSD welcomed and immersed me into the Cochabamban community. I engaged in a new environment with support and guidance from Mauricio and Cassandra, the program director and international program coordinator of FSD Bolivia's Site Team. Mauricio gave me sage wisdom, and with his help, I experienced not only public transportation adventures on some of the most brilliantly colored buses I've ever seen, but also the chance to ask strangers for directions in Spanish and challenge myself to rethink how I commute and communicate (and embrace getting lost in the meatpacking market along the way!).

My work as a FSD and Aldeas Infantiles intern created connections with local municipal organizations--EMSA and Gaia Pacha--to catalyze action on the global issue of environmentalism. These relationships grew from the ground up, and this spirit of collectivity grew even more so with my homestay family. The Ramirez Molina family defined my summer. Countless stories and jokes were told over early morning and late night tea (I miss mate de anís on the daily) with my madre, padre and hermano boliviano, all of whom shared their love of their city and their country with me.

In Cochabamba, big things happen through small but strong action. My FSD intern project drew from within and grew from face-to-face interactions instead of the usual text or email I expect from my studies at Northwestern University. I learned to ask not what a community needs, but rather how we can build upon the assets that a community already has.

FSD is an incredible nonprofit that thrives because it honors its mission for community-driven and -implemented change at every level of the organization. This past summer, I had the opportunity to intern at FSD's San Francisco headquarters. The office provided an incredible experience of grant reviews, marketing and staff dialogue, and I feel so lucky to have my FSD story span two continents with one organization and a continuous community.

What would you improve about this program?
Encourage layering! The sun is hot and the shadows are cold, so really stress the importance of bundling up. The States' summer is Bolivia's winter.
56 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Kailey
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

FSD is highly reccomended!

FSD is dependable and supportive, but there is a lot of space to work, grow and establish yourself without having your hand held. The midterm retreat with the site team was a highlight and FSD's community connections really helped hit the ground running. Overall, it was a great experience in every way!

What would you improve about this program?
One thing: it would have been nice to have more contact with my host organization before arriving. This is different for every participant, but was my experience.
52 people found this review helpful.

Questions & Answers

Yes, for programs in Latin America, most host families do not have English speakers in the home.