The Story of Mineros San Juan
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Population
The settlement of Mineros San Juan, Ushpa-Ushpa is situated 10 km southeast of Cochabamba, Bolivia. Approximately 1,500 families live here under marginal economic conditions. This settlement was established in August of 2001 by former miners, who migrated to Cochabamba in search of brighter prospects. The development of Ushpa-Ushpa has followed a pattern that is typical in many South American cities. Beginning as an illegal settlement on the fringe of the city, the community spread and after time, was eventually recognized as part of the neighbouring city.Until today there are people migrating to Mineros San Juan from various parts of Bolivia, although there are now some people in our schools who were born in the community.
On average, the 1,500 families each have 4-6 children and live in one room houses with no sanitation. The parents, in comparison with developed nations, are very young and adult illiteracy is high. The spoken languages are Spanish as well as Aymara and Quechua, two indigenous languages
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Infrastructure
Due to its illegal status, Ushpa-Ushpa initially lacked any infrastructure for the supply of basic utilities. Only in 2004, was the settlement provisionally connected to the electricity network of Cochabamba.The ability to construct community infrastructure continues to be difficult. There is still no plumbing and water must be delivered by trucks. Only the main street has been paved with rocks, the remaining streets are of poor conditions.
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Houses
In the beginning, the people of Ushpa-Ushpa lived in huts built from wood, plastic or other usable garbage. Over time, simple mud-brick homes were built, which improved the quality of life somewhat. Most houses will consist of one room that includes the kitchen and many sleep on the floor or with many family members in the same bed. There are few toilets in the houses and no sewerage facilities. -
Work
The majority of the inhabitants are seasonal workers or daily laborers. Men mostly work in construction and women wash clothes or sell products in the market. -
Health
The health condition of the residents of Ushpa-Ushpa is of a poor standard. Pulmonary problems and diarrhea are widespread and cause death frequently, especially among the children. The reasons for these health concerns include malnutrition and poor hygienic conditions. Chagas and HIV are also known to be present in the community.
The Story of Proyecto Horizonte
The local charitable organization, Sociedad San Vicente de Paúl, established a health center in Ushpa-Ushpa in 2001, which provided basic medical and dental care, limited schooling and distribution of meals and clothes.
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Expanding the health center and the kindergarten
In February 2004, the Sociedad San Vicente de Paúl under the leadership of Osvaldo Castro met with Christian Ruehmer and began planning for the construction and the operation of a kindergarten in Mineros San Juan. Just a few weeks later the first stone was laid. By December 2004, the first 100 children were welcomed to their new kindergarten. The building covers 4500 square feet and cost approximately 40,000 $US to construct.In less than six months, further plans were in place to expand the facilities. These plans were multi-faceted, as on the one hand we wanted to be able to help more children, yet on the other, we wanted to expand the medical facilities. The additional building was finished in the spring of 2006 and covered an additional 4000 square feet on two floors.
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Building the school
Following this initial progress a five-year plan was created, with the objective of assisting with the general development of the community as a whole. Thanks to the excellent and generous support of the German-Austrian philanthropic organization “Börsianer Handeln e.V.” we were able to swiftly put our plan into play. A large school complex and a center for advanced education were planned for a site 500 meters up the road from the kindergarten. In December 2007 the first of four construction stages was completed. Since February 2008 more than 600 pupils, a number that is continually increasing, in grades one through twelve have attended school in this new building. -
Foundation of Proyecto Horizonte
Since its inception in 2004, the organization has been completely funded by private donors. The administrative costs of the project are minimal, below 0.5%. In the year 2008 for organizational reasons we founded our own foundation, called Proyecto Horizonte -
Development of the project
In 2012 we expanded and restructured the department Local Development. It is the combination of programs and volunteer initiatives that were previously in existence and new programs that will be designed to continue meeting the needs of the community. This allows these programs to be designed and managed in a coordinated and sustainable manner. The area is divided into 4 components of Community Training, Violence Prevention, Sport and Art and Housing and Work Programs. With this department we want to ensure a sustainable development of the community of Mineros San Juan.To date, we are proud to report our success and overachievement of the institution. This has been possible through the generosity, support, and passion of everyone involved. We believe, we still have a lot of work to do to make Mineros San Juan a middle class community but with our holistic approach, offering health care, education and local development, we are going in the right direction.
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Proyecto Horizonte 2017
In the year 2012 we prepared the ground for our work over the next 5
years in our Plan Proyecto Horizonte 2017. Please find more details here …