Bolivia 2012  " Pando: heart of the Bolivian Amazon"

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GalileoMobile travelled once more to Bolivia for a short pilot expedition in the province of Pando. The trip took place from June 12th to 18th 2012, just before the first Bolivian Astronomy Olympiads. This amazonian region in the North-East of Bolivia is one of the most isolated areas in the country and difficult to access using any form of transport. We visited 6 schools, reaching a total of about 960 students and 50 teachers.

Route followed by GalileoMobile in the region of Pando.
 
During these six days, we:
  • Reached out to 4 rural and 2 city high schools to realize interactive astronomy activities with the students and telescope sessions with the teachers.
  • Offered a two-evening astronomy course to students and teachers in the city of Cobija and surroundings.
  • Donated educational material to each visited place: a telescope (kind donation of the 'You are Galileo!' project) with a tripod and a print-out of our Handbook of astronomical activities.
This expedition was co-organized by the Direction of Education of Pando (SEDUCA) and the science teacher Ingrid Justiano (organizer of the astronomy club AstroPando, and committee of the Astronomy Olympiads). Aboard the jeep Philippe Kobel was representing GalileoMobile together with Prof. Manuel de la Torre from La Paz, who had already travelled with our team in Bolivia during the expedition of 2009. They were accompanied by representatives of the SEDUCA, teachers and local authorities.

Funding and support for this pilot expedition to Pando was provided by the following institutions:

Acknowledgements

We want to thank all the people who helped us during both the preparation of the expedition as well as during the trip. Thank you for supporting us and sharing our vision!
  • Ingrid Justiano (teacher, committee of the Astronomy Olympiads)
  • Juan Jose Xavier
  • Dr Kaz Sekiguchi (YAG)
  • María Antonieta Rodríguez Miranda (teacher, amateur astronomer group of the school Vaca-Diez)
  • Prof. Manuel de la Torre (Universidad de San Andrés, La Paz)
  • Placido Espinoza (driver)
  • Prof Roberto Mendez Cahurara (departmental director)
  • Silvia Barriga (SEDUCA)