I can’t believe summer is here already. As most of you know we are two month away from the next segment of our journey. This segment will take us through South America along the Andes. You can see a rough plan of our route below.

We will be riding across Colombia, Ecuador,Peru’,Bolivia,Chile and Argentina. My wish, depending on time, would be to go and have a look at Venezuela as well.  It’s a big planet and we can’t do it all but Venezuela sounds like a very interesting place to visit, especially after the death of Chavez. The biggest news is that Matteo is back on the trip. The original team of the mototravellers will try to document as much as possible the adventures that will unfold during the summer.  Matteo will ship his old beautiful 1985 Honda Dominator to Colombia while I will make my way down from Costa Rica alone. Once reunited in Colombia, we will ride south together towards the new project we decided to support in Bolivia.

This time, with your help, we will participate with “AiBi Amici dei bambini“ to care for the children that live in the ” Virgen de Fatima” orphanage.

Your help in Mongolia has made a significant difference so let’s try to replicate the success in Bolivia.  

BOLIVIA

Context

The poorest state in Latin America

Bolivia has a surface area of 1,098,581 square kilometres, with a population of roughly 9 million people.

More than half its population lives on less than one dollar a day. The child death rate is extremely high, because of  malnutrition and of difficult health and hygienic conditions.

Poverty and a scarce availability of resources to be assigned to the welfare state compel thousands of families to abandon their children.

The child abandonment emergency

Child abandonment in this country has dramatic facets: every year, thousands of children are left in institutes: these are dilapidated and overcrowded structures, in which living conditions are only just above the threshold of survival.

 

Virgen de Fatima

 

The “Virgen de Fatima” reception centre welcomes male and female children between 0 and 6 years of age. This institute is a temporary care centre, even though some children do remain there for over 6 years before being transferred to another structure.

The centre employs a psychologist and two social workers. It also hosts a family clinic, managed by one doctor and six nurses.Ai.Bi.’s multidisciplinary team , together with the centre’s staff, checks the social and family status of the children, as well as their medical, psychological, educational and legal needs, providing food, water, health care and study support. Moreover, we check the children’s legal status, to facilitate the start of the necessary  registration procedures in preparation for the issuing of identity documents.

Ai.Bi. supports the institute also through the purchase of functional products and medical needs for the children living in the institute.

Please help us make a difference