I'm back!

Most of you already know that I'm spending another summer in Cochabamba, Bolivia, but this trip is different than last year's. Last summer I spent 3 months here working as a volunteer at a children's home called Casa de Amor, which was started by Jennifer Thompson, a family friend from my old church. I lived with a host family and worked at Casa de Amor almost every day.

This year, my main purpose for the trip is research. As part of the Honors College program at my university I have to write and defend a thesis before graduation. I have an advisor in the Social Work department at school and a general idea of my thesis. When I came to Cochabamba last year, I spent a little time with Jennifer and some of the street kids she ministers to and works with in addition to directing Casa de Amor. My advisor and I decided to focus my thesis on street children, so I planned this year's trip to follow Jennifer in her work with them and observe them. I also hope to talk to other people who work with street children and maybe go to some homes or rehab centers. I'm not exactly sure where my project will go, but for now I'm calling it a case study by participant observation. I also don't really know what I'll be doing during my trip, but I'm trying to just go with the flow of things here and see what happens! I will be here for about 7 weeks this time, so it's a little shorter but hopefully I can get everything I need by then.

In addition to my research and following Jennifer around, I will also be working a little at Casa de Amor again. I am actually living at CDA House 1, the “baby home,” and I'll be filling in the gaps for some of the volunteers who are leaving in the next couple months. There are so many new babies and kids here and only 4 kids are left from when I was here last year! In House 2 there are a couple who have left, but the ones who are still there are the same who were there last year. It's great to see those kids again that I knew before, and also fun getting to know the new babies here! I spent the day at House 1, and later this afternoon I might go to House 2. These first few days I don't really have a schedule or plans, but I'm getting used to being here before I jump into my thesis work. I hope to update this blog often and let everyone know what I'm doing, as well as post pictures, so keep an eye out for new posts!