Frank Gutierrez, Bolivia

I was born in Achocalla, a village in the outskirts of the city of La Paz. I am in the fourth year of my studies as an Agricultural Engineer. Due to economic difficulties, I took a job offered by the company Flor de Leche, a small dairy industry located in our village. The family business puts major emphasis on social and environmental standards and has decided to implement an ecological wastewater treatment plant, to stop contamination of the nearby river by the effluents of the dairy plant.

I am hired by the company as an environmental manager, giving priority to my knowledge and the ease of living close to the company's facilities. Motivated by the challenge of wastewater treatment, as well as the implementation and operation of a treatment plant, I started working two years ago. The company Flor de Leche has given me the opportunity to have a full-time job that offers me health insurance and financial stability.

I greatly appreciate Swisscontact’s support for boosting the water treatment plant system. I oversee its operation, which I am very pleased to do, even though it is not always an easy job. I start my daily routine by chlorinating the tanks, then monitor pH and temperature, quantity of effluents and pump operation. I also supervise the level of the biodigesters, irrigate the wetlands and the worm filter and clean and maintain the system in general. All this is done according to a very tight work plan.

I dream of concluding my career and supporting the company, implementing a treatment system in a new production plant, and perhaps eventually setting up my own productive business.