This page contains the following sections:

Destination: Tarija
Construction of Habitat Houses in Bolivia
Daily Itinerary
Accommodations
R&R
Pricing Information
Health & Safety Information

You can also review the What To Bring page, or read What To Expect which applies generally to all Columbus Global Village team mission trips.

Photo courtesy of Michael Lapham

Destination: Tarija

Tarija welcomes visitors warmly, calling itself La Capital de la Sonrisa (The Capital of Smiles), to an agricultural area well suited for grape and wine production. Founded in 1576, it still centers on a pleasant, traditional plaza. Other attractions include several parks, waterfalls, caves, and the world-renowned Paleontology Museum of Tarija City.

Tarija is the 7th largest city in Bolivia with about 170,000 inhabitants, and also the name of the 6th largest department (state) with a population of 470,000.

These links give a preview of what the area has to offer:

• Wikipedia article
• BoliviaWeb page
• Photos at TravelPod
• Brief travel report and pictures at GLOBOsapiens.net

All team members are asked to meet on ??, ?? ?? between ??:00 a.m. and ??:00 p.m. local time at the airport in ?? (airport code ??). The HfH staff coordinator will meet us at the airport. We ask team members to wear the Global Village t-shirt they will receive from HFHI to ease finding each other.

Usually our first stop will be to a bank or foreign exchange house at or near the airport to obtain some local currency before heading to our lodging facility.

This map Expedia map shows Tarija along the southern border with Argentina, but you can zoom in or out for additional perspective.

Photo courtesy of HFH - Bolivia

Construction of Habitat houses in Bolivia

We will fill in additional details about construction as they become available.

The average Habitat for Humanity house in Bolivia ranges from 527 to 646 square feet (49 to 60 square meters) including 2 or 3 bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and a bathroom. Houses are built of steel-reinforced brick with cement floors and ceramic tile roofs, and feature electricity, water, and sewer systems. The average cost of the houses is $4,240 USD.

A primary goal is to work side-by-side with partner families and other local volunteers. Please be aware, however, that most people have to work at their jobs every day, and some might live quite a distance from the site. Although they generally can not be with us all the time, we hope that they will be able to join us when they can. This is why we always ask that the schedule includes working on Saturdays.

Please review our What To Expect page for a more complete picture of the entire experience.

Photo courtesy of Michael Lapham

Affiliate Development

In addition to construction work, we have offered our help with advocacy and PR efforts. We hope to learn more specifics soon about the feasibility, but initial thoughts include meeting community leaders and helping to recruit local donors, families & volunteers. This will primarily be a Sunday and/or evening activity, although we will welcome the chance to "be seen" and interact to people even as we walk or ride to/from the site each day.

The affiliate has been told that we may be able to garner some extra resources through our fundraising efforts. They noted the need for tools, and would be most appreciative if we can help them out in this manner. We will wait and purchase exactly what may be needed locally rather than try to carry tools or supplies from home.

Climate & Weather

Based on this summary from WordTravels.com, Bolivia as a whole enjoys fairly moderate weather the year-round:

Due to the altitude, the climate in Bolivia is fairly temperate with cold nights and warm days. Temperatures get down to freezing on winter nights. Rain is likely over the summer months (November to March).

More significant to our mission, Wikipedia indicates that Tarija is among the most comfortable parts of the country:

[Tarija's] climate is Mediterranean (similar to the Bolivian cities of Cochabamba and Sucre), in contrast to the harsh cold of the Altiplano (ie, La Paz) and humid heat of the Amazon Basin (ie, Santa Cruz de la Sierra).

Here are the current conditions at Weather Underground or you can look at a summary of the conditions last February.

Daily Itinerary

Below is a preliminary daily schedule. It will be updated as specific details are finalized.

Accommodations

We will probably be staying in a church, retreat center or small hotel that provides clean, simple, safe, inexpensive housing. We hope to be located within easy walking distance of both the construction site and some shops where we can obtain convenience items.

Typically each room accommodates two people and has a private bathroom, though it is possible that we will have dormitory style accommodations. We don't expect air conditioning, which is actually quite a benefit as we acclimate to working in the heat. You'll be amazed at how "cool" a 73 degree morning can feels when you work the rest of the day in the hot sun!

To help safeguard our passports and valuables, we will bring a hard-sided suitcase with a bicycle cable and padlock so we can secure them in our room or the office.

Our meals will be from a variety of sources, all prepared with clean water and under sanitary conditions appropriate for our "gringo" stomachs. Typically breakfast and dinner are provided at the lodging facility. We hope that lunch will be eaten on the worksite together with any family members, staff, and other volunteers present at the time. Dinner will likely be either at the lodging facility, or else we will go to one or two local restaurants. Although we always make "advance reservations", don't get your hopes up for anything but the simplest of fare!

If you haven't already done so, please review our What To Expect page for a more complete picture of the entire experience.

Photo courtsey of András Janscik

R&R

Balancing our building and advocacy work will be some R&R time to further explore the culture.

• Sundays will be a time to experience local church service and spend an afternoon getting to know the area markets, museums, etc. Hopefully some homebuyer families and/or other volunteers will be along so we can get to know more about them, their jobs, etc.
• We hope to learn a bit about local music, dance, crafts and customs in the evenings. A perennial favorite that we hope can be arranged is a cooking "class" to learn about Bolivian food preparation -- and maybe even a reciprocal where we provide them with a taste of our own specialties!
• We will attempt to arrange a simple sporting event like soccer with the families, staff and local volunteers as another way to help everyone get to know and feel comfortable with each other.
• After the conclusion of our work, we will take a day in Tarija and two days in La Paz to explore some culturally significant attractions and/or tourist attractions of Bolivia.
• Optionally, Dave & Susi invite you to join them on an extended tour of the Amazon and Lake Titicaca after the conclusion of our regular mission trip.

Pricing Information

Although the actual cost of the trip will not be finalized until we know exactly how many people join the team, we believe following guidelines to be reasonably close. The total price is likely to be about $1,600 to $2,000 per person plus round trip airfare. For people from Columbus, we expect flights to cost about $800 for a grand total of $2,400 to $2,800 each.

Read about Tax Deductions and the Cancellation Policy here.

Photo courtesy of Eduardo Valdivia

Health & Safety Information

• Never travel or walk alone -- use the buddy system
• Don't walk around town after dark
• Drink only bottled or purified water
• Eat only foods that are cooked or peeled
• Avoid touching animal. Even cute puppies and kitties may carry disease

Everyone needs to check with a travel medicine specialist to get the immunizations that are necessary for you. In Columbus, there are two providers available:

• Travel & Immigration Clinic, 745 W. State. St., 614-224-9052.
• OSU Thomas Rardin Family Practice, 2231 N. High, 614-293-2700.

For those who want to wade into a site filled with technical details, the Centers for Disease Control is the primary source. Once you peruse it, you will understand why we believe that you need a physician to interpret it for your specific situation.

For additional protection in the unlikely event of a medical emergency, it is recommended that all team members complete the optional Medical Authorization and Medical History forms for additional confidence and peace of mind. These forms are more extensive than Habitat for Humanity International's standard Emergency Contact Information form in order to handle even the rare chance that you become unconscious or otherwise unable to speak for yourself when treatment is needed. Take the time to complete these forms so you are sure that the necessary information and authorization will be available to medical personnel.

Please download the following three files and use Microsoft Word to "fill-in-the-blanks" according to the instructions. Please note that the "Instructions" and the "History" forms are ready to use. However, the "Authorization" form is a generic sample. You will receive an email with a slightly customized version that contains data specific to the Bolivia mission.

• Medical Forms Instructions
• Medical Authorization Form
• Medical History Form