When we arrived at the cooperative on Campus Manning, Maria Mollizaca and Jorge
Canderon, the husband and wife team, were hard at work preparing that day's lunch for the 150 students that eat in the cooperative. This is Maria's first year back after working here 4 years ago when there were only 40 students eating in the cooperative. Her favorite food to prepare is fricasa, which is either pork or chicken served with chuño and corn. (Chuño is a freeze-dried potato traditionally made by Quechua and Aymara communities here in Bolivia by leaving out small potatos during cold nights for a number of nights to both freeze them and then they are dried in the sun. Once they are preserved this way, they can be stored for years, and this process has been used for centuries. Brillant, huh?) 
As for the students, Maria said that she thinks they would eat chicken for every meal if they could. Her husband's job is to make the bread, which turns out to be about 1,000 pieces of bread a week. I couldn't helped but be mezmerized by how effortlessly Jorge rolled the dough as he talked with us. Jorge told us about how the community changed when the college started here now that there are more jobs for people and he is very happy that the college exists.Elmer Brian Apuri is in his fifth semester studying rural tourism, and he is one of my students in
my evening English classes. He is a 22 year old from Candelaria, which is about 5 hours from Carmen Pampa. When we asked him why he chose to study at Carmen Pampa, he responded like many of the other students I have talked with have responded, "I am from the countryside. I wanted to come to the countryside and stay in the countryside." He first ate at the food kiosks on campus but quickly joined the cooperatives because they are the most economical. His favorite food at the cooperative is anything with soup, meat, and a little bit of vegetables.Roxana Mendizapal Chuquiza is a 18 year old in here first semester at Carmen Pampa. She came
from Guanay, a town 6-8 hours from Carmen Pampa, to study nursing. She chose to be part of the cooperative because it is very economical and she eats all of her meals there. She will be having her first shift in the kitchen next week. She said that they eat a lot of scrambled eggs, but her favorite meal was the one time that they had steak. When we asked her why all the students weren't part of the cooperative, she said that she knows students who can't afford the monthly fee. Even though 150 bolivianos is cheap by United States standards, it can be very high in a country where workers may only make 30 bolivianos a day for work like cleaning houses or working in the fields. Some students only eat meals when they have enough money to buy something from one of the restaurants. Roxana told us that sometimes students from the cooperative bring food to to share with their friends who aren't able to eat because they don't have enough money.While talking with Lee, a volunteer in his third year here at Carmen Pampa, I learned that the idea of the cooperatives was formed in the mid 90's when a student had a nosebleed that would not stop. Sister Damon Nolan, the founder of the college, took him to the doctor on the second day and they found out that he was malnourished from not having enough money to eat. Sister Damon Nolan started asking students who among them wasn't able to eat because they couldn't afford it. For these students, she started the cooperative in order to keep the food costs low by having the students do the shopping, preparing of food, and cleaning. On a visit home to Boston, Sister Damon Nolan was talking with the father of a girl that she had years earlier and found out that the girl had died of a rare disease after college. The father was the owner of a grocery chain and he decided that he wanted to help feed the students at Carmen Pampa and now annually gives a substantial amount for the cooperative program. In honor of his daughter, one of the cooperative's is called "Patty's Kitchen." Now, because of the funding that has been obtained, any student can be a member of the cooperatives for a low cost.
On Campus Leahy, you walk down a short little dirt path past the students washing their laundry on sunny days, to find the upper campus cooperative. When we walked in
they were busy frying french fries and cutting up vegetables. Fransisca Auzpa just started working at the cooperative this semester after working here three years ago and Juana Zapana is in her second year. Both are from Carmen Pampa, and Fransisca lives in the house closest to the cooperative. They serve food to 140 students, which is up from the 120 students that came to this cooperative three years ago. Depending on the day, if you come here for a meal, you may find chicken, steak, scrambled eggs, lentils, pique a lo macho (french fries with pieces of beef and/or sausage, onions, tomatos, and peppers), or salchipapas (the very popular dish of french fries with hot dogs on top found throughout the three countries I have visited). Francisca's favorite food to prepare is lechon y pollo (pork and chicken cooked in the oven).Leaving Campus Leahy, you walk up a path and steps through a beautiful row of trees to find the third cooperative. Mostly older students and students with families eat at this cooperative and their housing is located right next to it. When we arrived, we caught some of the last students to
finish their lunch. As some of them washed their plates and joked around, we talked with Jeronimo Payhuanca Gomez, an agronomy student in his seventh semester. He has eaten at the cooperatives during all of his semesters at Carmen Pampa. His favorite food is sopa de mani (peanut soup). Jeronimo is originally from Caranabi, a town about 4 hours from Carmen Pampa, and he said that when he originally came to the college, he was scared of the foreigners that were on campus because he didn't understand why they were there. Sara, one of the volunteers who is now a staff, told him that the foreigners were here to help the college and learn from the students. It was hard to imagine this outgoing, friendly young man as someone who could be scared of me, and it was clear that he has gotten over that fear. It made me be aware of all the students who have just started here and are not used to having foreigners around.The best part of this cooperative tour was the kitchen. When we walked in, two women
were on the side of the kitchen preparing vegetables and one woman was preparing everything else for the 130 students that eat at this cooperative. Delia Beltran has been working in the cooperative for five years, and although she was hesitant to talk to us at first because she was so busy, she quickly become the most lively of all the people we interviewed. When it was time for pictures, she arranged a good background setting and asked for a copy. Even though the other two woman were full of smiles and very interested in our interview with Delia, they did not want to be interviewed and it appeared that they only spoke Aymara.
Breakfast is served at 8:30, which may include rice with milk, oatmeal with milk, or a chocolate drink. Delia said that her favorite food to cook is pollo al horno (chicken in the oven) and that the favorites of the students are also pollo al horno, sopa de mani, chairo (a stew of meat, chuño, and vegetables). When we asked Delia about changes in Carmen Pampa because of the college, she said there have been many changes and that she was able to return to work. It has become clear after talking to just a few people how much help the college is because of the jobs that became available for the residents of this small community of 40 families, including working "on campus" or having a business selling the products they grow, the food they make, and other items to the students, staff, and volunteers.At the end of our time speaking with Delia, we were lucky to catch Yalitza Mamani,
the President of the "Fiscalizadoras" (inspectors or auditors of the money in the cooperatives). In her seventh semester studying education, this 23 year old is very close to achieving her dream of being a teacher in a high school. She said that she likes to be with people and share with others. When describing why she wanted to be a teacher, she said simply yet strongly, "It is my vocation." Coming from a family of seven children with two currently studying at Carmen Pampa, economics was a large factor in choosing to eat at the cooperative and she has now taken a very active role in how the cooperative operates. After college, she hopes to return to her small community of Cochuna, which is near Coroico, to be a teacher.These cooperatives are a part of making childhood dreams come true at UAC-Carmen Pampa by making sure that basic needs are met so that students are ready to learn.
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