Contaminated water is the most serious health threat to Bolivians.
What is Etta Projects?
In 2003, Etta I began as Comedors de Niño's Etta Turner and Etta II followed in 2005. These projects were nutrition programs for kids and education and income generation programs for their mothers. As time went on and the initial projects evolved, it was clear that more was needed for sustainable community health. Once Etta I and Etta II were ready to be administered by a local organization, and analyzing what we had learned in those 6 years we naturally began thinking about other educational, water, health and economic programs for children and their families in the inner city and rural areas of Montero Bolivia. Etta Projects now also reaches beyond Montero into remote communities with great need.
Participation — not dictation
Etta Projects is dedicated to working with communities to empower local people to appraise and analyze their lives and living conditions. Etta Projects does not independently choose its projects; rather we strengthen the community's ability to evaluate their own problems and to identify possible solutions. We are dedicated to participatory methodologies, green practices, and the use of local resources.
Empowerment eliminates poverty
The core of all projects is training and education to empower participants with the tools to make sustainable changes in their lives.
Solutions often focus on, but are never limited to, the areas of health, hygiene & nutrition; education; and income-generating workshops. To see what has been done at the grassroots level in the past and future, take a look at our newsletters.
How projects develop
Process and empowerment
One of Etta Projects' principle goals is to empower communities to be active participants within Bolivian society.
We work side-by-side with the people to identify and evaluate problems as well as to design and implement local solutions. Through participatory techniques such as social mapping, village walks, interviews, and dialogue sessions, community members interpret and assess a wide spectrum of both positive and challenging aspects of their lives.
Success is sustainability
We work with local communities to create programs, and in that process the community learns to sustain them on their own. There are a number of self-sustaining women's groups that operate their own programs.
Understanding Poverty in Bolivia
Malnourishment inhibits children's growth, leaches the color from their hair and rots baby teeth. Intestinal parasites sap the energy from young and old alike. Most families live on less than a dollar a day. Education is often a last priority. These are the daily challenges Etta Projects works to positively impact.
There is still much to do and no dearth of people needing a path out of poverty and its related life challenges. The steps we take are incremental, but we have seen great leaps forward.
