BOARDING SCHOOL CALASANZ MOROCOMARCA (BOLIVIA)

The first application for support from municipal authorities of Uncía and from the Ayllus (traditional social structure) reaches the Piarist Fathers (Escolapios) by 2003. It was a long way until the opening of the boarding school in 2011.

The boarding school is located in the Morocomarca community, about 4,000 meters above sea level and with cold weather all year round, specially at night. It was built to ensure education for children living far from school, in widely dispersed communities. However, in this case the climate of violence in the area adds to the distance. The violence is motivated by a covert war among the Ayllus about territorial boundaries, which has created many orphans. At least 10,000 people are known to have died in the last 200 years, and today there are about 50 orphans in the area.

The boarding house holds 160 children and receives strong local support, as reflected in the urgency with which the authorities asked for the Piarists’ presence in the area, “Please, come to educate our children, so they do not kill one another”.