1. 2013 Case Study: Education on Environmental Sustainability
Foundation for Sustainable Development
Cochabamba, Bolivia
Written by: Marcel Byrd and Karen Wilber

2. Case Study Goals:
We hope to use this case study as an opportunity to give an overview of the partnerships
that our group cultivated over a summer in Cochabamba, as well as to reveal the complexities
behind our experience with international development work.
Background Information:
Cochabamba
Cochabamba, “the City of Eternal Spring”, is the fourth largest city in Bolivia with a
population of over one million people. It is an urban environment that is growing in its
production and consumption of material items, but with a lack of focus on environmentally-
friendly practices. As a result, the city government and local organizations are moving quickly to
keep up with the need for programs and teach and implement these ideas in a practical way.
Partner Organization
During our time, many of these local organizations came into contact with our partner
organization. Our partner organization is an international organization that works in over one
hundred countries to prevent childhood abandonment by addressing issues such as education,
health, and parental involvement. Within Cochabamba, there are over thirty centers that serve as
daycares and schools for the children of qualifying families. Our partner organization focuses on
the growth of the children in a holistic way, including their physical health, emotional health, and
academic development. Additionally, they choose community members to be the educators of
the children, and make sure that parents are involved in and in charge of the goals and standards
set for the center. Overall, the organization focuses on growth at the organizational, community,
educator, parent, and child level.
Asset-Based Community Development:
Our experience was unique, in the sense that our program, the Foundation for Sustainable
Development, and our partnership organization had very agreeable models in terms of supporting
the community with which we were partnering. We were all in agreement that the project we
worked on should be based on the priorities of the community. And, although we would be a part
of helping to implement the project, ultimately the individual communities would eventually take
ownership over it.
Project Development:
I. Initial Exposure
Our internship began with an experiential orientation meant to educate the three of us on
the structure, current projects, and members of our partner organization. Through them we

3. learned that our partner organization is composed of three structures of individuals; facilitators,
educators, and the parents/children. Each organization had a series of daycare classrooms with
children from ages six months to six years old and the educators were responsible for educating
them throughout the day. The facilitators were the leaders of the centers responsible for planning
monthly meetings with community members and local parents to discuss relevant issues to the
organization. The children were usually at these meetings and were often cared for by volunteers
or educators. As a team, we had an interesting beginning given the structure of our partner
organization. Given that there are over thirty centers in the city of Cochabamba, during our first
week it was imperative to solidify which center we would be spending most of our time at. So
after visiting different centers and talking with various facilitators, the organization decided it
was best for us to work at the largest center in the city, the Social Center.
During the first week, we also spent a lot of time in the classroom acquainting ourselves
with the children and getting to know the culture of the classrooms of our partner organizations.
We were additionally introduced to local parents at a community meeting facilitated by our
partner organization and conducted meetings with a current FSD intern in order to gather
additional insight on current projects and projects executed in the past. Given the complexity of
our organizations’ structure, we wanted to conduct interviews and talk with educators from
various centers as a way to conduct asset-mapping. Through mapping out the assets of the
organization and collaborating with facilitators, we gathered that our project should focus on
spreading hygiene and cleanliness in the classroom, environmentalism/sustainability, and
augmented communication networks between the parents and educators. However, given the
time constraints of our project, we chose to focus more on the recycling and sustainability
element. So essentially we wanted to focus our project on creating a recycling/sustainability
classroom curriculum for the children of our partner organization as well as creating
collaborations and partnerships between our partner organization and local environmental
organizations.
II. Establishing Partnerships
After coming up with a goal, the next phase of our project was to find local
environmental organizations. Through local advertisements and internet sources, we were able to
visit and successfully contact five organizations; Swiss Contact, FUNDARE, Empresa Municipal
de Servicios de Aseo (EMSA), Arte Reciclada, and Guia Pacha. With all of them, we discussed
the types of services they typically provide to people in the city in addition to any outreach
programs they have relating to youth in particular. Swiss Contact did not have a lot of outreach
programs in particular, however they informed us that they often work with a multitude of other
organizations to sponsor events. They handed us a pamphlet with a list of contacts and services
they provided, which proved to be very helpful in better getting to know local organizations. We
eventually lost contact with them after reaching out to various organizations.
Our meeting with FUNDARE proved to be beneficial in that they often times did
workshops particularly for preschool children. The only issue was that they often disposed of

4. their recyclable waste in very particular ways which we, after several meetings with facilitators,
learned could be an issue. However, given that we still needed to construct contracts and give
them time to prepare, we decided to keep corresponding with them. Our first meeting with
EMSA was a joint meeting with representatives from FUNDARE and EMSA and the facilitators
of our partner organization in order to confirm and map out the details of a partnership.
Eventually, due to certain contracting and compromising issues, we weren’t able to have
FUNDARE begin their work during our stay. However, after mitigating these issues, we were
able to ensure that they were scheduled to do their first workshop with the children of the Social
Center soon after our departure.
We proceeded by working mostly with EMSA since they were very willing to give
recycling and sustainability workshops for the children and parents of a few centers of our
partner organization. Beforehand, it was imperative that we developed written agreements and
timelines of the work that they would be doing. We were able to settle this process pretty quickly
and so, by the fourth week, EMSA was giving workshops to children and parents alike about the
fundamental information about recycling and sustainability. The children’s presentation was
specifically designed for children between the ages of three and six. So, in giving the
presentations, EMSA was sure to include a lot of animations, videos, songs, and games in order
to keep the children engaged and active during the presentations. For the parents, the
presentations were much more informational and technical and directly related to ways they
could approach this issue from an adult’s point of view. They eventually gave a total of four
workshops in the Social Center and two other centers. During this process, we got to know the
workers of EMSA pretty well and were able to create good relationships. Through further
correspondence, EMSA agreed to donate eighteen recycling bins to the Social Center by a means
of reinforcing the content of their workshops. The logistics of buying paint and transporting
these recycling bins was a little tricky, however we were able to bring those to the Social Center
before our departure. Our connection with EMSA only deepened throughout our time and their
partnership with our partner organization is definitely something we can see in the future.
Along the way, we also found two local environmental organizations; Arte Reciclada and
Guia Pacha. After meeting directly with Arte Reciclada, a local organization that creates artwork
from recyclable materials, they agreed to complete workshops in another center of our partner
organization after our departure. After meeting with facilitators of our partner organization, we
decided that we needed to create a compost site at the Social Center. We were informed by FSD
that there was an intern working at an organization called Guia Pacha that specifically
specialized in compost work. After reaching out to the intern and meeting with the organization
directly, we were able to establish a partnership and completed the necessary steps for them to
begin building the compost site soon after our departure.
Discussion Question
• What qualities and characteristics should development groups look for in establishing
partnerships?

5. III Art Curriculum
While we were working to create partnerships between our partner organizations and
local environmental organizations, we were also working to engage the children of the Social
Center. Given the expansive nature of our organization, we figured that it would be simplest to
implement our curriculum in only one center. We wanted to use the Social Center as an example
of the art curriculum’s implementation with the hope that, since they were the center with the
most resources, they would be able to facilitate the spread of our curriculum to other centers
throughout Cochabamba after our departure.
So, before implementing anything, we found it necessary to first educate ourselves on the
complexity of these issues, look at ways in which this has been accomplished in the past, and
familiarize ourselves with the children and educators we would be working with. Luckily one of
our group member’s mothers was involved in work very similar to this, so she was able to email
us examples of curriculums they had implemented in the past. Additionally, after assisting in a
few different classrooms within our partner organization and conducting informal interviews
with educators, we gathered that the children possessed an affinity for the arts. We were told that
the children really enjoyed singing, dancing, and completing art projects. So, with this
information in mind, we figured that it would be most appropriate to make our recycling unit
artistic in nature. In the Social Center there were six classrooms, three of whom has children less
than two years old. So amongst the three of us, we figured it would be best to split ourselves
amongst the classrooms with children ages three and up and each facilitate the creation of our
own individual art projects. Additionally, in facilitating this, we were sure to mention the
fundamental information regarding recycling and sustainability (which materials are recyclable,
how should they be disposed of, etc.) to ensure that the children received a comprehensive
understanding of the material. A few of the art projects created included musical instruments
made from recycled bottles, octopi made from toilet paper rolls, and cars made from toilet paper
rolls. These art projects went on for about three weeks.
Per the request of one of the facilitators, we decided to hold a “Green Fair” at the end of
the unit where we would invite parents and community members to the Social Center and have
each classroom display the artwork they created over the past few weeks. We also offered to
make the Green Fair a friendly competition between the six classrooms ensuring that the
classroom with the most creative projects would win special prizes. However, in actuality, we
planned on leaving each classroom a gift that would ultimately be relevant, sustainable, and
helpful given the circumstances of each individual classroom. So we conducted interviews with
the educators in every classroom and, with the help of the facilitator of the Social Center,
purchased gifts for each classroom for the fair. Simultaneously, we were told that it was
imperative to provide food and drink for the fair. So, in buying food, we learned that there was
an FSD intern at an organization called “Movimiento Sonrisa” that catered empanadas and other
baked goods to local events. So after reaching out and calling both the intern and supervisor, we
were able to secure the delivery of four hundred empanadas to the Green Fair. We then
purchased soda for the adults and fruit juices for the children. We also invited EMSA to the

6. event to have them speak with parents and community members about their work and, with the
help of them, created a fun and educational event.
IV. Creation of Recycling and Garbage Bins
Another project that we worked on was the creation of garbage and recycling bins for
three different centers with the help of EMSA. EMSA provided cleaned out sturdy bins, and
provided us with some of the materials to paint the bins based on city color codes for recycling
and garbage, as well as assisted us with adding handles to the bins so that they children could
move them. Overall, we created eighteen bins, or two sets for each of the three centers. We
revealed these bins and explained their use at the Green Fair, and also used them for games and
activities with the children to teach them the basics of garbage disposal and recycling. This
partnership with EMSA would allow the garbage and recycling bins to not only serve as a way
for facilitators, parents, and children to be conscious of their use of recyclable items, but also be
the start of a recycling collection program between our partner organization and EMSA.
V. Sustainability
At the end of our project, my team and I decided to create a “Guide for Sustainability”
highlighting each step of our process and listing the contact information for every individual we
worked with. We were also sure to include pictures from the Green Fair, copies of our
curriculum, and future recommendations for future FSD interns. Many aspects of our project
(such as the compost site, FUNDARE’s partnership, future workshops with EMSA, and the
spread of our curriculum to other centers) did not happen while we were physically there.
However, we hope that the relationships we created with our partner organization and the other
organizations would allow this project to only expand in the future. Given that we worked with
other FSD partner organizations, we hope that FSD will send future interns to our partner
organization and the organizations we worked with to make it expand. Since our departure,
we’ve since heard back from the director of our partner organization as well as FSD and EMSA
suggesting that our project has since received attention. We hope that our communication,
transparency, and passion allowed the organizations we worked with to further our project.
Challenges:
Over the course of the summer, our group encountered a number of obstacles that
Discussion Questions
• Our team found themselves spending a considerable amount of their budget for the
Green Fair—a one time event. Considering the teachings of asset based community
development, could this money have been spent in better ways? If so, how?
• What are some of the advantages and disadvantages in being given a budget when
working alongside a development organization?

7. challenged us to really focus on why we were there and what we hoped to accomplish with our
partner organization. The first challenge that we faced was the natural result of entering a new
community and working with a new organization. We only had a short time to get to know the
organization and the communities which it impacted before we had to choose a project to which
we would dedicate the next two months. Even though our host organization had over thirty
centers just within the city of Cochabamba, we only had the opportunity to visit a few of the
centers and talk to some of the educators, parents, and children before coming up with a
proposed plan. Additionally, given the vast differences between the centers in terms of their own
assets and challenges, picking a project was a lot more complex than a single narrative we could
gain from a single narrative of one community. After deliberating for some time, our group
eventually decided on working primarily in one of the larger centers and formulating our project
to be able to be replicated at other centers throughout the city.
After choosing our project, we faced challenges related to communication both within
our partner organization and with organizations with which we were attempting to partner.
Within our organization, we found that the facilitators and directors of the various centers
believed that our areas of study at Northwestern implied professional knowledge and experience
in those fields. We had to communicate not only that we were not as skilled as they believe in the
areas they thought they were, but also that our partnership should rely mostly on the skills of the
community members, using us as advocates and organizers of the project.
Additionally, because we were working with so many different facilitators and directors
within our partner organization, there was miscommunication as to the breakdown of our time in
and out of the actual centers of our partner organization. While some of the directors were aware
that we would be spending time outside of the centers to meet with organizations in Cochabamba,
some of the educators and specifically the facilitator of the Social Center preferred us to spend
more time in the classrooms. Because of their previous experience with volunteers working
solely in the classrooms with the children, we really needed to verbalize the importance of the
time we spent outside of the center as part of what would make the project successful in order to
come to an agreement with our facilitator and the educators about what we would be doing
during work hours.
Outside of our host organization, we had challenges with the type and amount of
communication that was required to partner successfully with Cochabamban organizations.
Whereas we were coming from an institution that very much relied on e-mails and phone calls to
schedule appointments, that was certainly not the case in Bolivia. At first, we found it very
difficult to schedule consistent meetings and stay on track with our project timeline. However,
after we opened up to a new understanding of communication, which is often spontaneous and
face-to-face, we found that we could be much more productive in our time.
Discussion Question
• How should the team address the miscommunication concerning their perception as
experts in their fields of study?

8. Besides these more organization-specific and project-specific obstacles that we
encountered, we also had challenges related to doing international development in general. As
students from the United States with limited Spanish speaking experience in Cochabamba for the
first time, we had challenges in adjusting to the language and culture enough to be fully effective
as partners with our host organization. Issues of fully adjusting to living in Cochabamba included
Spanish fluency, ability to efficiently use transportation, understanding constructs of time, etc.
Although many of these obstacles were unavoidable given that we were working in an entirely
new culture, we worked through them by learning into the discomfort of the new experience.
Reflections:
Face-to-Face Communication
As mentioned earlier, part of the learning curve for our team in terms for successfully
navigating our work in-country was learning how to effectively and meaningfully communicate
with our partner organization and other organizations within Cochabamba. Although we initially
grappled with trying to coordinate meetings and communicate ideas through e-mails and phone
calls, we quickly learned that face to face interactions were much more effective. However, it
was not simply letting go of the need to schedule things ahead of time that made our face-to-face
interactions more meaningful. We found that people were much more receptive to help us if they
met us in person. It was very common in Bolivia that if we met with someone, they would sit
down with us and offer us tea and just hear our stories and find out why we were in Cochabamba
for the summer. Overall, face-to-face communication became a part of creating meaningful
friendships with those that we met in Cochabamba, as well as being an important tool to the
effectiveness of our project.
Privilege
The privilege associated with our status as educated foreigners from the United States
was definitely something that we became aware of as we met with national and international
organizations in Cochabamba. We found that people were often willing to meet with us in person
with no appointment, without even questioning who we were or what we were doing. Although
we cannot be certain that it was our education that gained us these meetings and support, we
were always cognizant of it being a possibility. Our group often discussed what it meant to have
this form of privilege, and whether we should avoid using this power entirely or make the most
of it and use it for more selfless reasons. Ultimately, we understood that privilege and power are
undeniably important factors of international development and that real attention needs to be
paid to if its usage reaffirms power structures or works to dismantle them.
Discussion Question
• How do we reconcile issues of privilege in discussing international development? What
are examples of ways in which privilege can be used in effective and conscious ways?

9. Overall Project Reflections
We recognize that over the course of two months, our project incorporated many different
aspects that cannot all have been equally effective and sustainable in the end. Some tangible
outcomes, such as the creation of the garbage and recycling receptacles, we hope will continue to
serve our partner organization not only as a method of supporting environmentally sustainable
practices, but also as a reminder of the value their community places on this goal. Other
outcomes, such as having helped incorporate learning tools (workshops, the Green Fair, etc.) for
the facilitators, educators, parents, and students through workshops, were important because they
show our organization that these programs are feasible and important to create a culture of
awareness for sustainability practices. Finally, we believe that the in the end, the most important
result of our project and partnership with the organization is the connections that we created
between them and other organizations in Cochabamba. Although we facilitated the initial
communication between the organizations, ultimately the successful partnerships showed that
Cochabamba is an asset-rich city, which has many resources already in place at the disposal of
our partner organization. In the end, we were able to leave Cochabamba knowing that not only
had we helped to form meaningful partnerships between a number of people and organizations,
but that we had reflected the important notion that the communities we worked with held the key
to their success.