Hello everyone-
My name is Thacher Hoch and I am an 18 year old student currently living here in Cochabamba and volunteering at the Vida y Esperanza program. I have been helping out alongside Abby for a few weeks and am trying to continue the good work that she has done for the program in the short time that I have left here in Bolivia.
Jose Luis and the boys continue to work on their handmade bridles, which seem to be working out well for the horses so far, although some have fallen apart while being used. Everyone here was very excited to receive all of the equipment brought down from the U.S. yesterday and there is no doubt that things will be going much more smoothly with the addition of these thoughtful donations.
Recently we have been working on building jumps for the riding area here, as until now the only obstacles in use have been rocks and logs, and the occasional pile of horse droppings. Every small donation really does make a big difference here, as we were able to buy the wood for 6 jumps with only US$40. The boys here, as well as Jose Luis, really do appreciate anything they can get. Recently, while mixing horse feed with some of them, I was surprised to find that a lot of the food that I thought was intended for the horses was ending up in the mouths of the hungry boys here at the Blajot.
As Abby has described in her previous posts, Jose Luis runs a great program with very little, and a donation of any amount of money can go a long way towards helping out with all kinds of things, from new equipment for the horses, to paying the rent so that the program can continue to run. I hope you will consider donating whatever you can to help out Jose Luis and all of his students, as there is no doubt that whatever you can manage to give will be greatly appreciated.
P.S. I will try to post pictures of the new equipment in use next week so keep an eye out for that.
