Making a Change in Bolivia

by Karolina Brzozowska
(Edinburgh, United Kingdom)

Dear all! It has once been said that “if you want to innovate, to change an enterprise or a society, it takes people willing to do what is not expected” (Jean Ribould). In fact, some argue that the only true expectation of us is to respect strangers’ “negative” rights, in the sense that we are only obliged to not to harm them, rather than to benefit them. Yes, this is the minimum expectation of any member of the society. No, it is not enough. I am sure that you agree - and understand just how important this is in the light of fighting poverty in Bolivia.

My name is Karolina Brzozowska and I am an undergraduate student at the University of Edinburgh. I have recently been admitted onto the UK’s foremost global volunteer program – the International Citizen Service.
It is funded by the Department of International Development and run by some of the most respected organisations whose main focus is to fight global poverty through volunteering. International Service, one of the above mentioned organisations, is an international development charity which protects and promotes the rights of most marginalised people around the world. As a part of the ICS scheme they send youth volunteers to countries in need, including Bolivia. Due to my knowledge of Spanish, my skills and experiences, I have been successfully admitted onto the team departing to Bolivia for 12 weeks this summer. There, alongside local volunteers, I will be working with the most disadvantaged your and children in and around the capital city of La Paz. I sincerely trust that you, above all, understand the invaluable impact which volunteers have on fighting poverty in Bolivia.

Yours faithfully,
Karolina Brzozowska