Bolivia is facing one of the hardest economic crises in our history. As a recent graduate from Princeton, I embarked on this service mission to diversify, through hydroponics, the economy of my country — deeply hit by climate change and now by this intense climate crisis.
Coming fresh out of Princeton to see a different reality back home was definitely challenging; however, I was really grateful to find inspiration in this project, seeing how other initiatives were also successful in nearby towns such as Oruro. The community’s leader put me in touch with an agronomy engineer so I could become familiar with what the real process is like. That way, when the time came to work with Indigenous women, I would be well-prepared to support them in any way I could.
During that learning process with the agronomy engineer, I learned that it is not a simple process at all. It is not only about building tubes but about developing a whole water system that feeds the plants without wasting water, a process controlled by a small electronic device called “the Mind.” After getting to know some of the extra materials I had not taken into account before, I made a new list of what was needed and, in the process, had to make several adjustments to the budget. The support the Class of 1978 Foundation gave me helped me continue serving my community in this crisis, maybe not in a greater but definitely in a meaningful way.
After notifying my community about the great news that these funds would help us build a hydroponic garden, I met again with the leadership to coordinate the purchase of materials. Together, we began spreading the word in the community about this opportunity to engage and learn about hydroponic systems. We set up a simple Google form that asked participants to send a 30-second to 1-minute video explaining why they wanted to learn and be part of the project. We received a good number of responses and selected 10 participants among women in school, college, and others already working or homemakers.
We coordinated with the local community building to host the hydroponic project there, and after receiving approval, we held several meetings to introduce the idea of hydroponics to our participants and to structure the plan we would follow to build it.
For the first two weeks, we worked with the community to finalize the budget. We identified a room in the community building that was not being used and reconditioned it for our hydroponics. Then, the participants and I built a list of all the materials needed for the project. The challenge we faced at this stage was buying “the Mind.” We had to travel to Cochabamba to find it, but when we arrived, we realized it was above our expected price. To overcome this, I reached out to a mechanical engineer friend from school who kindly offered to build one for us at a much lower cost. That is the version that is now working successfully in our system.
Originally, we had planned to build two hydroponic units as proposed in the budget, but due to these unexpected cost increases and the redesign of “the Mind” system, we focused our resources on completing one fully functional and efficient unit. This adjustment ensured better quality, sustainability, and local ownership of the system, which will serve as a replicable model for the next phase.
After facing that challenge, the workshops began. Some facilitators volunteered to help us, and for others, we covered their transportation costs. Meals and refreshments were provided for participants during each workshop, twice a week, for about eight weeks. Attendance varied since many participants worked during the week, making it difficult to meet at the same time, but weekend sessions were always full. By the end of the project, the hydroponic room was completed and has now started growing and producing small-sized tomatoes and lettuce.
The storytelling phase of the project went wonderfully. We learned powerful stories of resilience from the women. One that stood out was from our sister Casilda, who shared why she decided to participate despite the time commitment. She told us that when she was a child, she used to go to the lake to catch pejerrey, a typical Bolivian fish, just for fun — something they can no longer do because of the current state of the lake. “That is why I decided to be part of this,” she said, “because our children will not have the same opportunities we had. We must secure alternatives, and this hydroponics project represents that.”
As we move forward with the project, we aim to organize a Municipal Fair where we can showcase products that have been produced through innovative methods in the city of Oruro. This Municipal Fair will serve as the adapted version of the final exhibition originally proposed, providing a broader platform to highlight our work to local residents, schools, and leaders. There, we plan to exhibit what our hydroponic room produces and direct all the economic gains toward the local community and the building of another hydroponics system.
To keep participants engaged after the project’s completion, we realized that involving their children could be a great way to ensure continuity. Throughout the project — either during the cultural storytelling sessions or the early construction weeks — many participants brought their children, most of them high-school students. The engineers who helped us suggested that passing this knowledge to younger generations would ensure long-term sustainability. For that reason, we included them in the project’s development, making it open to young people of any gender from local schools, so there is an active population maintaining the system in the future.
If there is a space to reflect on what the whole experience meant, I would say this project was a powerful demonstration that sustainable community initiatives are viable. To ensure even greater success in future projects, I believe we should include more incentives for regular participation — not only knowledge but also small economic recognition. Unfortunately, this was not possible this time due to financial constraints and the national economic crisis. However, this was an excellent pilot project, with productive results already being seen, and I am very happy to continue following up on it now that I reside in Bolivia.
I want to thank the Class of 1978 Foundation, the community of Villa Challacollo, my friends Tupack Huayllani and Deymar Gomez, and all the engineers and technicians who helped us make this project — whose results are now visible — a reality. JALLALLA!
