This summer, I traveled with three other students to Bolivia to document an agricultural school’s conversion to self-sufficiency. We shot the video above to tell the story of the school and Teach A Man To Fish, the international non-profit behind the school’s transformation.

Our goal is to raise $7,000 to establish a small-scale poultry project and a tree nursery, which will help the school reach self-sufficiency. To donate or learn more about how these funds will be used, click here.

Watch our film in HD.

Read our daily journals from Bolivia.

See our photos from Bolivia.

Click through to see two other short films from our trip…

After visiting the office one last time on Monday, we returned to CEAAT to pack up our things and say goodbye to Marcelino, the staff and the students. All of the kids were there to see us off including Rosa, Fernando, Marcelo and even little Daniel. As we packed up our room, the kids peered in through our open window, asking us where we would be going next, sneaking looks at the photos Sam was collecting to give to the school. Even as we exchanged laughs and a few things we couldn’t take with us (Marcelo inherited our knockoff Spanish Monopoly set with a smile), both the team and the students found it hard to hide the sadness and the abruptness of this last meeting. It had only been weeks before that Marcelino had sat us in front of them in the dining hall, listening to four Americans explain in broken Spanish that we wanted to film their lives. Suddenly, we were exchanging e-mail addresses, taking group photographs, and hugging everyone goodbye. And before we knew it, the students were gone.

It’s strange to know that we will probably never see any of them again. A part of me wants to watch Rosa, Fernando and Marcelo grow up, to see them become the smart, capable, innovative young men and women I suspect they will be. I would like to think that the education Marcelo and Marcelino are offering them will help them achieve much of what they deserve. But, as Marcelo said, so much of what the students need depends on radical, fundamental change in attitudes about Bolivian agriculture. I really hope they can break through the glass ceiling, change what is expected from a farmer and to recognize the importance of community and self-sufficiency in agriculture. I think they have it in them. We’ll see if the world around them does too.

We left the school with Marcelo and Marcelino and enjoyed the most of a rushed dinner at, once again, our favorite place. Carsten swung by as well, and we relished the chance to have one last conversation with our three guides. We raised our glasses of Kohlberg to the school, shook hands with our hosts, and before we knew it, we were on a bus to Santa Cruz.

-Jack

Josefina with armadillo

Josefina makes cheese

Marcelo Wrangles Cows

Cows 1

Cows 2

Curious students

Curious students II

Team with students

Jim, Bertha, Daniel

Marcelo

Carston

Team with Carston, Marcelo and Marcelino

Alligator

Cow on hill

Marcelo wrangles cows, by Nessa

Today we visited Marcelo’s farm which is located two hours outside Villamontes near the Paraguayan border. Although managing Agro XXI requires him to spend most of his time in an office in town, he seems to much prefer the rural life. So when he found out we were interested in learning more about the Chaqueno cattle-raising practices, he didn’t miss the opportunity to take us out to the country.

Back in Villamontes, we ate steaks for dinner with a newfound appreciation after a day spent chasing cows through the Chaco woods. – Sam

Welcome Sign to Marcelo’s Farm (This place is my dream; I am building it with the love of my daughter, my wife, my mother, and my friends. You are welcome.)

Big Sky

Agro XXI, founded in 2001, is dedicated to improving the lives of rural populations in the Chaco region of Bolivia by supporting small producers and educating them about how, by working together as a community of like-minded individuals, they can best take advantage of their land and talents. In large part, it does this by encouraging the formation of cooperatives—five of its main projects focus on cheese production, organic meat production, the harvesting and processing of the native algarrobo plant, honey production, and fruit cultivation. In a region where individual farmers and small producers can become fiercely competitive with each other, to the point of damaging their land and thereby their own chances at economic success, the kind of education Agro XXI provides is desperately needed. By working together, pooling resources, caring for the land, and increasing the size of their collective bounties, agricultural collectives are in a much better position to market their products, both locally and nationally, than individual producers. With this knowledge comes increased profitability. Eventually, the economic success of the collective allows each member to become a self-sustaining small producer, a breed of businessman that, as it stands, is nearly extinct in the Chaco.

What Agro XXI does, then, is primarily the work of changing the attitudes of rural people when it comes to self-sustainability, helping to create a new kind of market economy in regions that are currently struggling with widespread poverty. By breaking the cycle of desperate competitiveness that prevents many small producers from working together and educating them about the best ways to maximize both product and profit, Agro XXI aims to improve the quality of life of rural people throughout the Chaco region.

The agricultural school at CEAAT, Marcello claims, is Agro XXI’s “star process.” (Since, as are all things, the work that they do is a work in progress, Agro XXI prefers to speak in terms of its processes rather than its projects.) The students at the school aren’t just learning about fruits, vegetables, and caring for the land—although that they are. They are also learning about the business of running a small farm, about working together with their peers, and about becoming the kind of responsible producers that Agro XXI aims to help shape. While the processes mentioned above—meat production, cheese production, etc.—work with adults, the school aims to instill the same values in the next generation of small producers, and in doing so, create the next generation of community leaders in this part of the Chaco. It is for this reason that the school’s work is so important to the region.

Today, we interviewed Marcello more in-depth for our film, and he spoke about the school’s future. Eventually, he hopes to have ten mini-processes working within the school, including systems of milk, honey, and tomato production. When the school is running at full speed, not only will these processes provide positive business models for the students as they grow into the next generation of agricultural leaders, but the sale of the products at market will generate enough revenue to keep the school running without the need for outside financial support. At this point, Agro XXI and is supporting the school by raising money to procure all of the land, buildings, animals and materials necessary to get these processes up and running—a cost they estimate at $25,000 total.

The interview with Marcello proved to be some of the most important work we’ve done so far for the film. He is so well-spoken, organized, and committed to improving his home region that you get the sense that here is a man who can actually affect the kind of positive change Students of the World is all about. Of course, he still has a long way to go—the school, wonderful as it is, is nowhere near the place it eventually hopes to be—but the students are certainly lucky to have a man like Marcello at the helm.

- Jim

The sunset from CEAAT

One of our most exciting moments of the trip came when the group bought a copy of the Chaqueno, a national Bolivian newspaper, and opened to the second page to find a picture of our previous day’s interview with the Villa Montes assemblymen. During the interview Jim had been pulled aside by a reporter and the next day our mission in Bolivia was regional news.

Also in the news that day was an announcement that all schools in the region would be closed for at least the rest of the week due to a teacher’s strike. We felt pretty helpless at this point since our plans for the week included student interviews and filming classes. Although CEAAT technically still had school, it would be unlikely that students would show, since no Colegio meant an opportunity to take a vacation from school or help out their families at home. Living here over the past few weeks has taught us that a schedule is never concrete; as one of the assemblymen said, “disorder is the kind of order that works here”. And we have happily grown accustomed to this flexibility.

To our relief, some students trickled in on Tuesday, including Fernando. We snagged him immediately for the interview that we had been looking forward to all week. Fernando spoke proudly about his two-year involvement in the school, his desire to continue his technical training, and to become a self-sustained agricultural producer. He began his interview expressing his thanks for having the chance to speak to the Students of the World audience. Fernando is one of those kids you immediately connect with without a word between you, and he only proves kinder and more capable the more time you spend with him. You can’t help but hope the best for him, and know he will achieve it.

The next afternoon, in place of classes, our campus filled with mothers for a meeting with Marcelino. At the meeting Marcelino reiterated the vision of the school and emphasized their need for parental support. This was followed by giving out progress reports and then an announcement that there would be elections! The group would choose a board made up of mothers to organize social events and fundraisers for the school. The mothers were hesitant since issues of time, distance, and finances prevented them from offering more of their time. They nominated one another and finally a reluctant board was chosen. All seemed glad in the end with the decisions and the debate was closed.

We ended the night in town at our favorite restaurant, Ariego, where we enjoy some of the best steak any of us have had, and for less than $5. This place alone makes a trip through Villa Montes worthwhile.

- Nessa

Jesus

Jesus’s daughter

Queso Chaqueno