No traveller in Bolivia can miss the large number of shoeshine boys, omnipresent in any city centre. In Sucre the Education Centre of Nanta has found a way for travellers to learn more about these children's lives and struggles. More importantly, these activities form an extra source of income for them. Enjoy one of the small-scale sightseeing tours and/or fundraising activities at Café Amsterdam.
What is El Centro Educativo Nanta
The Education Centre of Nanta is a Bolivian NGO based in Sucre, in Bolivia's central highlands. Nanta is the Quechua word for "the way". The centre offers working children a place to do their homework, to buy a meal for a symbolic figure, and to receive family assistance so they can complete a high school education.
The largest source of income of El Centro Educativo Nanta comes from different foundations in other countries. Furthermore, the Centre finds ways to involve the working children themselves in improving their lives and as a result local activities are organised to raise funds. Their mainstay in the organisation of these activities is Café Amsterdam, which is located at Calle Bolivar 426.
What is Café Amsterdam in Sucre
At first sight Café Amsterdam is what the name suggests: a Dutch-run bar offering drinks, snacks and basic meals. It is run by the amiable and highly-spirited Linda, a Dutch woman who came to Bolivia years ago as a volunteer and decided to stay. El Centro Educativo Nanta stole her heart because of their integral form of working; it not just offers food, or accommodation, or tuition programs but combines all these activities.
"I don't like the idea of working children either, but it's a fact of life in this country. They need work to make ends meet. The Education Centre's purpose is to facilitate their lives, to help them raise funds so they have to work less and can thus complete school. Another important feature of our Centre is to involve the parents, to make them responsible for their children's education. Through our social worker parents are involved in fundraising activities as well," Linda explains.
Fundraising Activities at Café Amsterdam in Sucre
Each cup coffee consumed at Café Amsterdam will help the El Centro Educativo Nanta. However, visitors to Sucre may want to participate in one of the special fundraising activities as well:
- A Spanish-English pub-quiz once every two weeks on a Tuesday night.
- One Sunday a month a group of children from the Education Centre prepares a charity menu.
- On Sunday afternoon travellers can come to Café Amsterdam [4-6 persons] to prepare a typical Bolivian dish with the Education Centre's cook: Doña Natividad.
- Travellers [minimal 5] can book a charity movie at Café Amsterdam, projected on a big screen.
- Linda may introduce travellers to one of the working children who wants to show Sucre through his/her eyes to visitors. Places of interest may be the central plaza, where the majority of shoeshine boys work, the cemetery and the mercado campsino [farmers' market]. The latter is a good place to taste local delicacies such as chicha, api and pastel. Many children who work at the cemetery and the market enjoy the facilities at El Centro Educativo Nanta. The city tour takes about three hours.
- Through Café Amsterdam it is possible to visit the Educational Centre of Nanta. Cash donations are always welcome, of course, but this visit will be preceded by a trip to the local market where travellers can buy food as a donation. Please note that just one kilo of rice will not really contribute much to the feeding of one hundred children.
- Café Amsterdam is also the place to talk to Linda about the possibilities to help children by sponsoring their education, the so-called "Scholarship Programme", or by becoming a child's padrino.
Sightseeing in Sucre Through the Eyes of a Working Child
Guidebooks and Internet Sites will help travellers to find the most common – and often impressive – cultural sights of Sucre, arguably Bolivia's most beautiful city. For those who want to learn more about the city's children who shine your shoes, carry your groceries or guide you at the cemetery, Café Amsterdam at Calle Bolivar is the best source of information. Linda is also the person to talk to when interested to work for the Education Centre as a volunteer.
Karin-Marijke Vis - Karin-Marijke Vis is a bilingual writer (Dutch-English) who has been traveling in Asia and South America since 2003.
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