#Mysafe workplace habitat trial
“After some trial and error adapting to cooking using the ovens, and a six month trial where they faithfully recorded every single meal, the experiment started working and having some tremendous benefits. The original plan was to have 100 ovens operating in three years but that has been exceeded in two. “One of the projects I am working with is the Church of Scotland Guild backed solar ovens which we initially trialled with six families of indigenous people in the forest communities.
There is a creeping deforestation going on – one of the largest rates of deforestation in the world is in Bolivia. Satellite images actually show the deforestation on the Brazillian side and the lush forest on the Bolivian border – but let’s not get cocky. Three quarters of Bolivia is tropical rainforest and it has managed to retain a good part of that in a pristine state. “Though Bolivia has been traditionally rich in natural resources, it has also been systematically stripped of these assets. “Though Bolivia is nudging towards being a ‘middle-income’ country in that there are some very wealthy people there, there are many, many poor people, especially in the rural areas, who simply don’t have even the basic needs. “It was during this trip I met and fell in love with Rolando, packed up my ‘safe’ job and moved to Bolivia. It had been six years since I’d been there as a student but it was great to be back there. “After that experience I got a ‘safe’ desk job for Christian Aid back in London – much to my family’s relief – but one of the first places Christian Aid asked me to do some research work was Bolivia. “That was crucial training for me I learned to look for humanity and upholding dignity and the rights of people in even the direst conditions. Upon graduation I was straight into the deep end, working for a year in the Rwandan refugee camps with people fleeing the genocide there. “I realised that my heart lay in wanting to be an aid worker, and after finishing my degree I completed a masters in International Development at Manchester University. I volunteered in an orphanage at La Paz and set up a volunteer programme for future students. “That led me to doing Latin American Studies at Liverpool University and taking a year out to travel South America as part of my course. “I had an inspiring Spanish teacher who opened my eyes to human rights abuses round the world, especially in South America, and joined a small Amnesty group.
“I am originally from Manchester,” she says. Which is handy, because Emma is the Christian Aid Bolivia manager, and has been living there with her Bolivian husband, Rolando, and their two children for the past 20 years. “There’s something about the place – the best way I can put it is that I like the person I am in Bolivia. EMMA Donlan wouldn’t trade the view from her window for anything – she overlooks the beautiful mountain vista of Bolivia.
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