Bolivia, while one of the least-developed countries in South America, is rich in native culture. With a primarily indigenous population, the Spanish-influenced architecture, music and art have developed a distinctive and renowned folk tradition in a style known as "Mestizo Baroque." While only half the size of Texas, an enormous diversity of ecological zones are represented within Bolivia's territory with the Andes Mountains in the west and Amazon rainforest to the east. World-famous Lake Titicaca, the world's highest lake is located on the border between Bolivia and Peru and the world's largest salt flat lies in the southwest corner of the country. Bolivia's capital La Paz is the highest capital in the world.

Much of ancient culture still lives in Boliva from the physical to the traditional. The country is rife with ruins of temples, churches and colonial settlements. Indigenous festivals such as Yintip Raymi, the Solemn Feast of the Sun, offer a glimpse into the pre-Columbian times, creating a bridge between the past and the present.

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Why Does Bolivia Need Volunteers?

Latin America is as poor as it was 20 years ago, before the beginning of the ''lost decade'' of the 1980s when the external debt crisis brought the entire region down economically. Bolivia will have to work hard during the next two generations to escape the poverty that currently afflicts 70 percent of its population. The World Bank's chief economist for Latin America and the Caribbean, Guillermo Perry, said that most governments in the region "are failing to deliver... the right mix of public policies in the rural space, either from a growth or a poverty reduction perspective". Many proposed projects have never moved beyond the desk of faceless bureaucrats, while education projects tend to ignore many of the rural residents who do not have access to the same resources as those living in urban areas.

By working with Volunteer Visions in a street children home and environmental animal conversation project or by teaching English you can circumvent the bureaucracy and work directly with locally motivated non-profits and non-governmental organizations that are focused on making an immediate and tangible difference.

Volunteer Projects in Bolivia