BOLIVIA MOTORCYCLE

TOUR INFORMATION

SHEET

Jose Favian Mamani, farmer

and participant in MCC Bolivia

OBADES project

• Where: Bolivia, begin in eastern lowlands, ride up into the western Highlands

• When: August 16 – 30 2020

• Who: This tour will be led by MCC Bolivia and Bolivia Motorcycle Tours

(www.boliviamotorcycletours.com)

• Purpose: The purpose of this learning tour is for strengthening understanding and in-

terest for MCC supported projects. Through visiting project sites and talking with pro-

ject participants this tour will raise awareness on a broad scope of issues that MCC is

addressing in Bolivia. By motorcycling through the Bolivian landscape, tour participants

will better grasp the geographical component that defines the lives of marginalized Bo-

livian communities. We also hope this tour will provide increased engagement with

MCC constituency as we celebrate MCC Bolivia´s 60th Anniversary and MCC´s Centenni-

al!

• Size: Up to seven participants

• What type of bikes will we use? Kawasaki KLR650s. They are low-mileage, 1st genera-

tion KLRs that have been tactfully modified to meet the demands of both rider and ter-

rain. Chris Strong, owner and ex-MCCer, makes sure they are meticulously maintained.

Alejandro Quintana Lopez in

Cocapata, Bolivia

• Cost: USD $3495 plus airfare—see cost variations below $3,495—rider, single room when available—see Asterix (*) below $3,415—rider, shared room $2,463—passenger in service truck, single room when available) $2,383—passenger in service truck, shared room See Asterix in agenda below: *Single room not guaranteed **Sleeping in common area most likely

Draft itinerary—subject to change:

• Day 1* - Arrival in Santa Cruz/rest time in the morning/MCC Bolivia presentation & motorcycle tour

orientation in the afternoon

• Day 2 - visit MCC supported projects in Santa Cruz (Stansberry/Samuelito) –spend the night in El Tor-

no for an easier start to the next day on the motorcycles. See below for MCC project descriptions.

• Day 3 - riding day to Cochabamba via the “old” highway, 450km to Cocha at an altitude of 2558 m

(8392 ft). We’ll maneuver our way up a picturesque older highway with a mix of dirt and pavement

riding. Altitude change: 2142 m (7027 ft)

• Day 4 - partner visit with Fundación Abril in Cochabamba (see partner descriptions below)

• Day 5** - riding day to Cocapata region/partner visits with OBADES (see partner descriptions below).

Altitude change: 1522 m (4994 ft). Well pass a ridge at 4080 m (13386 ft) and spend the night at 3622

m (11883 ft) in the town of Totorani.

• Day 6** - partner visits in Cocapata Region with OBADES

• Day 7 - riding day/return to Cochabamba

• Day 8 - riding day to La Paz at 3640 m (11942 ft). We ride on a mountain highway that will wind us

through the Andean valleys up to the high plains, then down the surprising urban canyon of La Paz,

Bolivia’s capital city.

• Day 9 - Rest day/See La Paz sites

• Day 10 - partner visit in El Alto with Fundacion Communidad y Acción (See partner description below)

- ride the teleferico up to El Alto

• Day 11 - riding day via La Cumbre & Nor Yungas/”Death Road”, lodging in Coroico. We climb to the

summit pass at an elevation of nearly 3 miles (15,500 feet) and plunge down the infamous “death

road” to our hotel in Coroico. Along the way we’ll try our hand at zip-lining high above the valley

floors. The “Death Road” is a popular tourist attraction for biking and motorcycles. Heavy vehicles can

now use a new highway.

• Day 12 - riding day/return to La Paz via the “new" highway leaving behind the warmer weather and

lower elevations and make the trek back up over the summit and down into La Paz.

• Day 13 - riding day to Cochabamba

• Day 14 - riding day to El Torno/Santa Cruz

via the “new" highway

• Day 15 - departure (or other depending

the participants schedule)

Victoria Mamani Sirpa, ag-

ricultural technician with

Liciana Llamaca de Con-

dori in El Alto, Bolivia

Project visits

Stansberry - Stansberry Children’s Home has been a refuge for abandoned children in Santa Cruz since 1954.

Stansberry also runs a daycare program, providing a safe, educational environment where kids can learn and

grow while parents are focusing on sustaining the family. Bolivian schools run for half days, leaving many

children vulnerable while their parents are at work. The Daycare provides snacks, play time and counseling to

about 100 children from the Home and surrounding neighborhood. The parents participate in workshops fo-

cused on improving life in the home as well as educational opportunities for those with little formal education.

Samuelito - Samuel Daycare is a project of the Bolivian Evangelical Mennonite Church (IEMB), an MCC

partner, located in a marginal neighborhood in the outskirts of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. It was started in 2008 with

the goal of providing holistic Christian service through a daycare center to low-income families, especially

single-parent families. The Daycare provides proper nutrition for the children and promotes their physical,

cognitive and social development, while supporting the parents through home visits, workshops and educa-

tion. MCC provides teacher and professional worker salaries (a psychologist and social worker), meals and

educational resources for 96 children so their parents can find work and provide a stable home.

Fundación Abril is an organization located in Cochabamba, Bolivia working with urban and marginalized

communities and schools in recuperating water as a common good collaborating to create water harvesting

systems and urban gardens. Started in 2002, Fundación Abril is an initiative of a community leader from the

Guerra de Agua (Water War) that took place in Cochabamba, resisting the privatization of water. Recogniz-

ing the impact of local community solidarity in protecting water as a common good, the Foundation seeks to

instill values of collaboration and collective participation towards the betterment of life and access basic

needs such as water.

OBADES – Food Security - Food security with rural low-income families is a project of the Baptist Organiza-

tion of Social Development (OBADES) that seeks to respond to food security and nutrition needs in the Ande-

an mountain region of Cochabamba, Cocapata, Bolivia, addressing three strategic areas: nutritional health, ag-

riculture and livestock production-income generation, and natural resource management; with cross-cutting

themes of community organization and gender equality. The project encourages families to invest in agricul-

tural micro-enterprises and associations in order to take full advantage of the potential of the communities and

regional markets, diversifying agricultural production to be more marketable and of greater nutritional value.

Fundación Comunidad y Axión, located in El Alto, Bolivia, accompanies women and families in the planning

and construction of urban family gardens using a technique with adobe huts for planting in high altitude cli-

mates. The Foundation seeks to bring marginalized women together around the values of community solidarity

and nutrition to share their skills and knowledge with others as they share in the experience of urban garden-

ing. The project also seeks to instill in participants to value environmental needs and a sense of civil responsi-

bility to care for the creation and common good of all people.

Albertina Mamani

Quispe in her green-

house in El Alto