A Tribute to our International Training Staff

Before I go on, I feel like I need to introduce two important folks who have been with us all throughout training. They are our training coordinators, Sue and Armando. Armando is from Mexico, is married to a Bolivian and has one 8 year old daughter. He’s about 35 or so and has been living here in Bolivia for 3 years, all that time spent working with the Peace Corps. He is a pretty incredible guy and very funny as well. He’s a great cook (he’s provided some great Mexican meals for us), an excellent musician and his English accent is a riot. He speaks very good English, but likes learning new uses of words, and we’ve done our best to educate him on how to use swear words in English. If you’ve never heard a South American person use swear words, I feel sorry for you. Armando steers the Basic Sanitation ship, always jamming to is iPod in the car and sweet talking toll booth workers to let us through when no one else can. He’s definitely always looking out for us.Our Mexican Friend Armando Supporting His Mexican Heritage

The training team is rounded out with a woman named Sue, who is from New Zealand and also has an excellent accent. We’ve all learned new words from her as well...like using “bonnet” and “boot” instead of hood and trunk on a car. Sue is 40 and also married to a Bolivian and has 3 young kids. Her husband is in charge of an NGO here called Water for People, which works with local governments to provide water for communities who don’t have it. They get their money from the states and do their best to redistribute it among those who need it. Sue is a total hippy, having spent a few years cruising around Central America with no real destination, on what she calls her “Political Awakening.” She has some crazy and fun stories to tell, and we have a good time poking fun at her Kiwi accent.Our Crazy Kiwi Friend Sue

Sue and Armando make a great team and are extremely knowledgeable of everything going on. They’ve been around quite a bit and it’s comforting to see that we are learning from people that really know what they’re doing.Armando behind the wheel on one of our 8 hour car trips during Tech Week