A girl from a Bolivian center for children whose parents are incarcerated peers up from her desk. Fourteen students took a trip to Bolivia in May to teach English. Photo by Jenny Koehn | Special to the Appalachian

For 13 Appalachian State University undergraduate students and one graduate student, the memories of May 11-25 will never be forgotten.
“We learned about the complex social issues facing the people of Bolivia and how much a huge country like the United States affects the people of Bolivia in both negative and positive ways,” Patrick J. Holder, senior history and secondary education major said.

“We learned about how different leaders in Bolivia have accomplished or are working to accomplish social change,” he said. “Most of all, we learned to appreciate and love the Bolivian culture and way of life. As Americans, we really have a lot to learn from them.”

Holder was one of the students who attended the two-week leadership and social change class.
The class was led by Jim L. Street, associate director for the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership and Jenny Koehn, associated director for Student Programs.

“A lot of folks teach leadership courses,” Street said. “We thought a leadership abroad class would be a great addition.”

The trip to Bolivia helped students explore different ideas on social change, Street said.
Part of the trip included lectures from those whom ignited social change in Bolivia, including Oscar Olivera.

In 2000, Bolivia sold water rights to an American company. The price of water shot up, and people could not afford it, Street said.

“Olivera was one of the leaders to help the Bolivian people get water rights back,” he said.

In addition to hearing speakers, the group stayed with Bolivian families and helped close language barriers at a language school, Centro Boliviano Americano (CBA).

“We went to this place called CBA, which is basically a mostly English language school. We were paired up and got to go into different leveled English classes and have a cultural dialogue with the students there,” Kristin K. Johnson, senior music therapy major said.  “We learned about their views of their political leaders to the best places to eat in town. In turn, they asked us about our lives, what we thought of our own political scene, and much more.”

The trip taught students about themselves as well.

“I learned what it means to be a genuine leader, the value of truly listening to others, and how those aspects affect the people you are representing,” Johnson said. “I learned the importance of being informed about and present with your people, and what characteristics are vital to true social change.”

Learning about social change was a major component of the trip, as well as the change in perspectives of foreign ideas, Street said.

“The beauty of this trip is students get a better view of the United States by leaving the U.S., and when they come back things make a lot more sense,” he said. “These kind of study abroad programs make what is strange become familiar and what is familiar become strange.”

The next leadership and social change class in Bolivia is in 2012.

Story: MARY ELIZABETH ROBERTSON, Lifestyles Editor