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Colegio Nacional Florida Team Members Javier León (l) and Carlos Alberto Zacarí
with Gradeschool Students
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| Photo: Allan Baer |
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Santa Cruz, Bolivia •• Oct. 8, 2000 •• SolarQuest® iNet News Service ••
On Saturday morning, Colegio Nacional Florida celebrated the selection of two third-year high school students, Carlos Alberto Zacarí and Javier León, to Team Bolivia 2000. After successful interviews conducted earlier in the week, these two students were honored by leaders in the school for their strong commitment to community service. The event was attended by the entire student body, dressed in their regular school uniforms. The celebration opened with students singing the Bolivian national anthem. They stood at attention as leaders in the school and the community gave acknowledgement and encouragement to the new members of Team Bolivia 2000. Speakers at the event included Director David Zapata, Counsellor Amanda Moreno de Gonzáles, Supervisora de Educación Martha Moreno, Presidente de la Junta de Padres de Familias Marco Menacho, Ron Swenson of Team Bolivia 2000, and Gonzalo Villamil, representative of the Rotary Club's Project Minga Digital.  Director David Zapata spoke to the gathering, emphasizing the importance of technology education for the future of Bolivia and the commitment of Nacional Florida to support the development of rural education by offering students in the Porvenir the opportunity to enroll in classes at Nacional Florida through the Internet.
 In similar fashion, other speakers addressed the great promise that technology and the internet hold for young people today and the importance of solar energy to create electricity for people living in remote rural communities throughout the country. At the conclusion of the ceremony informal discussions took place between the students, parents of Javier León and the school leaders.
 As students from the Colegio were leaving, Rotarian Gonzalo Villamil was approached by honor student Lizie Amaya, a young woman with high initiative who asked to join the student Team Bolivia members from Colegio Nacional Florida. Recognizing her keen enthusiasm and her excellent scholarship record, Mr. Villamil introduced her to the Team and it was decided to conduct an interview to evaluate the prospects of her participation. After listening to her well-reasoned response to the many questions asked, it was determined that, if space is available, strong consideration will be given to her participation. The prospect of greater involvement of women from the Santa Cruz community was very encouraging. In-depth interviews with Lizie, Javier and Carlos Alberto were videotaped to document their perceptions about how technology can enhance educational development in Bolivia. Professor Raul Orozco, a mathematics teacher at National Florida, is also joining Team Bolivia to help supervise the students and work with the Porvenir community to plan distance education programs for youth not currently attending school in the village. Team Bolivia is pleased to have the cooperation of National Florida.
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