I will be an intern here, in Riberalta, at Sustainable Bolivia for about 4 months! It’s my first solo trip, first trip of more than a month and first time in Latin America, it’s a lot of first times! Upon my arrival on the 3th of February 2019 I met a family at the airport of Riberalta which directly integrated me and even invited to eat. I’m still in contact with them because I really connected with this family. Thanks to them I have already learned a lot of Spanish, about the city of Riberalta and about this strange habit everyone here has to rotate around the central plaza on a motorcycle just for fun! People here are incredibly warm and generous, it’s what impresses me most !
Visit Latin America and more specifically the Amazonian forest was always my child’s dream. By growing up I developed a big interest in the fight for environmental protection and against the deforestation. Integrate the team of Sustainable Bolivia is for me the opportunity to deal with subjects which are important to me as in particular the protection of the indigenous population. So much remain to make to guarantee to these populations a deserving life and respectful of their customs and ancestral techniques.
The Amazon forest is more than half the size of Bolivia, so I think it’s critical to protect that treasure that’s their legacy.
I’m here in Bolivia to complete my legal internship to validate my Belgian law degree.
That is why my main missions, including lobbying activities such as information retrieval or informational maintenance of crowdfunding platforms, are based on legal research on the laws related to the expansion of the Acquicana reserve. I can’t wait to discover the reserve and all the treasures it contains. I have already a small overview thanks to a spot behind the Central Plaza, which is already one of my favorites places in the world. It’s long the Rio Beni and from there you can see the jungle across the river. I tried to get there at least once a day, You can hear the sounds of nature : birds, water… It’s really relaxing and help me think a lot about this adventure. After few days of accommodation that was necessary to set up, I finally feel that the adventure is on a right path. You know for a Belgian girl used to a sanitized environment it can be tough to arrive here, without an idea of what it looks like : other accommodations, other customs. But you get usted to it after few days ! What doesn’t want to let me go yet is the mosquitos bites but again you get usted to it day after day, and even more for a blancita like me. So far what I like the most about this experience is the community life because everyone here is so great, friendly, fun ! Our parties are incredible and discovering Bolivia with them give a bonus to the experience. We passed our Sunday at the lake Tumichuqua, and I felt like I was spending my sunday surrendered by family, that will remain an incredible memory. I strongly advise you to go following the Instagram account of Sustainable Bolivia to see the photos of this magical place.
It’s only been a week but I’ve already learned a lot about myself. That, I think, is the main purpose of traveling.
Chloe
