Photos from Hannah's Time in Bolivia

Adiós, Bolivia

Did you know that 'adiós' means 'to God' (a Dios)? Those are fitting words for our departure from Tarija today. We had our final meetings with Sara and Eva yesterday and are confident in their abilities and this project. It will be exciting to see where things go from here!

Today is Maundy Thursday, and we remember Christ's mandate (which is where we get the word 'maundy' from) to us to seek his kingdom and righteousness and to take the posture of a servant as he did -- washing his friends' feet on the night before he died. The following collect on mission is appropriate for today and to reflect on in the work of Five Talents:

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thanks for keeping updated. I hope that you may be brought more meaningfully into His fold this Holy Week... adiós!

~ Hannah

Blessings Upon Blessings!

The days are flying by here in Bolivia!

Yesterday, the 'equipo misionero de Five Talents' (mission team from Five Talents) was the guest of honor at the monthly meeting on the Evangelical Pastors' Association of Tarija. I did a brief intro on the mission of Five Talents and where we operate; Tom presented on poverty and holistic development; and Sara and Eva did a fabulous job presenting Semillas de Bendición and the different models for savings and loans groups. There was a lot of audience participation and laughter!

We were also treated to a professional guitarist as a musical interlude during a break. The exciting thing was that we were expecting about 40 pastors and leaders to come and 85 showed up!!! Clearly, there is a big interest and need for Christian microenterprise development here in Tarija!

During our snack break, we munched on salteñas, which are a typical food here -- like an empanada (meat pie) but with more hot liquid inside. Definitely burned my chin on spurting salteña juice the other night...

~ Hannah

Sponge Bob, Channel 40 & Palm Sunday

This weekend was a smorgasbord of the sights and smells of Tarija. On Saturday, we went to the Mercado del Campesino and Mercado Bolívar, two markets absolutely full of busy merchants hawking their wares and determined shoppers. We met up with Victoria, the group member we prayed for on Friday night. She was selling a wide range of kitchen dish rags and wash cloths (I spotted Sponge Bob in the pile!), which she says she's found to be much more successful than the scrub brushes she also has for sale. Renting a permanent spot in the market costs about 300 bolivianos ($43) a month, which is quite expensive, so she is a comerciante ambulante (mobile merchant).

I was delighted to find a jewelry stand where I could make my requisite touristy purchases... there were semiprecious stones such as agate, amethyst, lapiz lazuli, freshwater pearls and quartz, which the owner said he purchased in Santa Cruz. Great stuff. I also observed a yellow-orange flower which Sara said is always sold at this time of year called 'flor de Pascua' (Easter flower); I think this is a marigold in English? Along the way, we ran into four other Five Talents group members!

Yesterday was Palm Sunday, and we went to our first service at Jesús, El Buen Pastor (Jesus, the Good Shepherd) Anglican Church, led by Rev. Dr. Walter Barrientos. This is the fastest growing church in Tarija! In fact, the woman who I sat next to on the flight to Tarija knew about the church. I then went to the Channel 40 local TV station where I appeared live (gulp) on a show to talk about Five Talents. Sara and Eva's father, Santiago, runs the program. I think it went alright!

In the afternoon, we met up with Padre Walter and a small team from the church to go up to the Anglican mission area of La Santa Cruz, in the neighborhood of Pampagalana, to celebrate Palm Sunday there. This is the poorest area I have ever seen. The folks who live in the neighborhood have homes that are about 8 feet by 8 feet, made of tarp and wood. The Eucharist was celebrated after a procession up the hill, where the children scattered marigold petals and huge palm branches had been planted in the ground. La Santa Cruz seemed enthusiastic about beginning a savings group together!

~Hannah

Seek the Welfare of the City Where I Have Sent You

This morning I was reading Jeremiah 29 in the Daily Office and was struck by these words of God to the people who were taken from Jerusalem to exile in Babylon:

"But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." (v. 7)

There are two things that jump out to me:

1. God sent people into exile? I always thought it was the evil Nebuchadnezzar. God has his redemptive hand on things we don't like and that in fact seem pretty terrible.

2. In that, God cares about the particular... the particularities of our life. He told his people to "plant gardens and eat what they produce." A God who cares that much about settling into a local place must really care about our individual lives.

And so tonight when Tom and I got to meet the savings and loan group Las Bendecidas ("The Blessed") in a particular brick and blue tarp church, in a particular neighborhood, in a particular valley, with Quechua women who speak a particular language and were learning how to cook a typical food here in Bolivia (empanadas! so tasty!!), I felt like God must be pleased. These women are not in exile, of course, but they are seeking the welfare of their communities and families by taking the chance to save together and trust one another as each person takes the pot of money collected each week.

Each of the eight women in the group is saving 10 bolivianos ($1.43) per week, giving one woman the chance to take home $11.44 to invest. As a group, we prayed for Victoria, who was receiving her $11.43, for wisdom in how to use her talents to glorify God and help her family.

How have you invested your dollars today? Have you used your talents to seek the welfare of your city and cities like Tarija? Are you praying on anyone else's behalf?

A good Lenten question as we move into Holy Week.

~ Hannah

On the ground in Tarija, Bolivia

Tarija is a small city, with a population of about 194,000. Because it's transitioning to winter here in South America, the climate is temperate, beautiful and a little breezy. The city to me has retained a somewhat colonial feel. It was established as a Spanish city in 1574, and it's still got some of that vibe. Folks sit in the squares in the evening, chatting and enjoying the ambiance, and it's quiet... much different than some of the other Latin America cities I've been in where there is a constant stream of motorcycles and salsa music blaring into the wee hours of the morning. There is a lot of green space.

Today, we met with Sara and Eva to hear about the program's progress. Most of the members of the 13 groups mobilized so far are women. As Eva explained, the women are much more likely to actively implement the knowledge that they learn in group meetings and educate their other family members. (In the microfinance world, women are also more likely to repay their loans!) They also mentioned how women who suffered from low self-esteem, lack of confidence and timidity are now learning how to speak up for themselves, express their ideas and make changes at home. It is exciting to hear about transformation in action. Five Talents truly is fighting poverty, creating jobs and transforming lives here in Tarija.

Of the more than 140 members of this program to date, there have been no drop outs! There is only woman that is no longer able to attend the group's weekly meeting because she had to move to Argentina (we're pretty close to the border, here), but she sends her money via her daughter, who is also part of the group. Amazing!

Another thing I love about Tarija: a total lack of gringos.

~Hannah

Transform a Life This Mother's Day!

Looking for a Mother's Day gift that will last longer than flowers?
This Mother's Day, Five Talents is honoring the special women in the lives of our supporters, like you!

As a tribute to the mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, aunts and friends, who have played a significant role in your life, your gift to Five Talents will provide small loans to deserving entrepreneurs in developing countries.

That special woman you are honoring will then receive a specially-made card featuring a Five Talents entrepreneur and be acknowledged on our Web site!

Click here for more information. Or call (800) 670-6355 or email info@FiveTalents.org.

Imaynalla, sutiyqa Hannah**

I write to you from the airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia! Only two more flights until we reach our final destination. As I was brushing up my knowledge of Bolivia on the flights today, I came up with 10 things about Bolivia I bet you didn't know:

1. Outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, fleeing the Pinkerton Detective Agency (later the FBI) met their demise here.

2. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and also has the greatest degree of economic inequality.

3. God got pretty creative when it came to wildlife here... jaguars, flamingos, pink river dolphins, piranhas, alpacas...


4. 2/3 of the population are from the Quechua and Aymara ethnic groups, which are descendants from the Incas

**This means, "Hello, my name is Hannah" in Quechua

5. Che Guevara also met his demise here.

6. 200 coup d'états in 180 years of independence. Whoa.

7. Tarija, located in a valley, boasts a microclimate that gives it the name "the Andalucía of Bolivia"

8. Tarija is also the epicenter of Bolivia's fledgling wine industry, where grapes have been growing since Jesuit missionaries brought them 400 years ago. The high altitude vineyards increase solar radiation and oxidants, intensifying the wine's aroma. I feel a marketing strategy coming on. Hoping to visit a vineyard (maybe this one called 'La Concepción') with Sara and Eva to see if the entrepreneurs might have opportunities to get involved in the industry.

9. There are dinosaur fossils out here!!! Read Job 40:15-18 and get excited!!

10. I'm officially fascinated by Jesuit missions that were established outside of Santa Cruz in 1587. These frontier towns built massive churches in the colonial style, learned orchestral instruments such as the violin and harp, composed music, etc. The Jesuits were then expelled by royal and papal decree in 1767. Tom and his wife visited them and said it was awesome.

That's all for now... qhipurkama ("See you soon" in Aymara!)


~Hannah