U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Visits Integrated Development Partners in Alto Beni

The Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Bolivia, John Creamer visits the San Antonio mini-fair of products supported by the Integrated Development Program.

On September 3, 2009, John S. Creamer, Chargé d’Affaires of the United States Embassy in Bolivia, accompanied by a Bolivian Government representative, visited the Alto Beni region of the La Paz Department.  The objective of the visit was to learn about the region and see the various activities jointly supported by the U.S. and Bolivian Governments through the Integrated Development Program (ID).  He toured the Martin Cardenas School in Suapi, the only school in the area of Alto Beni I and II where students can obtain their high school degree and pursue technical training.  Through USAID, the ID Program provided support in the construction of a sixty-student dormitory, a study room, and housing for the custodian.  This important infrastructure helps to improve access to education for young people who would like to undertake technical studies in their own region. 

Mr. Creamer then visited the Asociación de Productores Agroecológicos de Villa Porvenir – APAVIP, a banana and papaya producers association. The ID Program’s support to APAVIP

Mr. Creamer with students and faculty of the Martin Cardenas School in Suapi.

consisted of technical assistance, packing equipment, and cableways, which helped increased and improved banana production. APAVIP bananas are now sold in export markets such as Argentina and Chile, and are also supplied to the School Breakfast Program in the city of La Paz. 

Mr. Creamer’s last visit was to the community of San Antonio, a community that received ID Program support with a series of infrastructure works and technical assistance to help producers increase volume and improve the quality of their products to meet market demand.  The results are reflected in increased sales, higher employment, new hectares cultivated with organic crops, and an increased number of families participating in the ID program.  One of the projects supported by the Program in the region is the construction of the multi-purpose community center, which is now used for meetings, athletic events, and community activities.

Chargé d’Affaires meets with members of a banana and papaya association (APAVIP) in Alto Beni.

During the visit, a mini-fair of integrated development products such as dairy products, honey, cacao, papaya and others were on display at the San Antonio Community Center.  The Chargé d’Affaires was very pleased with the reception and impressed with the quality of the products. In his remarks, Mr. Creamer thanked the community members for their hard work and said that without their efforts the ID Program’s assistance would not yield such impressive results.