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I’m Eilidh, I'm 17 and from Scotland. From March to July I will live with a host family in Sucre, the capital of Bolivia, working as a volunteer for the organisation Sayariy Warmi. The name means ‘rise up, women’ in Quechua, one of Bolivia’s official languages, and they work to support the victims of human trafficking and domestic abuse, the majority of whom are women and children.

WHAT I'LL BE DOING

My volunteer work will involve participation in prevention campaigns and seminars within the community, which raise awareness of the violence and trafficking in the country and encourage people to report abuse.

I will also help to provide support to the victims of abuse in a therapeutic centre designed to facilitate rehabilitation and reintegration by giving control back to individuals. As I currently work and volunteer with children in Edinburgh, I may be involved with the childcare services Sayariy Warmi provides; temporary hosting for abused children and daily care to support working women, as well as the kitchen set up to give more local children access to healthy meals.

Sayariy Warmi aims for sustainable development and equality, and provides grants for entrepreneurs and training programmes to enable the victims of abuse to learn useful skills, from weaving and baking to marketing and business management. The organisation also provides political advocacy to courts on domestic violence and child rights, with the hope of encouraging people to report abuse and increasing the repercussions for abusers.

WHY I CHOSE TO VOLUNTEER IN BOLIVIA

Bolivia has the highest rates of domestic violence in Latin America. The Government fails to meet the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking, and Bolivia has some of the worst rates of traffic in South America. The Government relies heavily on NGOs to support the rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of both of these crimes due to a nationwide lack of long-term support programmes. Bolivia’s poverty and lack of resources means very little can be diverted to help some of the most vulnerable people in society, and so the support Sayariy Warmi provides is very valuable. This, for me, makes it vital that we support organisations like this - they are the main point of support in a growing crisis.

I hope that you feel as strongly about the importance of supporting these women as I do, and that you are willing to support me in my work with Sayariy Warmi. 

a link to to Sayariy Warmi’s own website in case you’d also like to donate money to them (the site is in Spanish!): https://www.levantatemujer.org/index.php/colabora

more info on domestic violence and trafficking in Bolivia:  https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2018/282616.htm          https://www.insightcrime.org/news/brief/human-trafficking-reports-in-bolivia-rise-900-in-9-years/                                                                               https://www.newsdeeply.com/womenandgirls/articles/2017/06/26/bolivia-home-to-latin-americas-highest-rates-of-sexual-violence