Below is a worksheet that you can use to get a pretty accurate estimate on the costs for your team to come to Bolivia and work on the community project. There is also a explanation document which gives a rather precise explanation of each of the line items in the worksheet so that you will know exactly what the money is going for.
Fees Worksheet Explanation (Rev. 1-2012)
Occasionally project teams have concerns about the “Professional Fees” that EIA charges. The amount of time involved in preparing for your teams’ visit is astronomical! Communicating back and forth with your team, with the community, and back to you; getting cooks, translators and drivers all organized; making hotel, ground transportation, and sometimes even internal flight reservations; preparing a cost estimate for every item on your materials list; and then purchasing that material, and making sure it is delivered and waiting when you arrive takes a lot of time.
And it saves you money. We purchase materials as Bolivian engineers, and don’t get the special “gringo” inflated price. And some times we are even able to find Bolivian or Japanese Government money which will help you to pay for the materials. And the security, knowledge of the country and the politics, and ability to do emergency response can be ‘priceless’.
On the average, you are paying for less than half of what it costs EIA to have you come. These “Professional Fees” cover a very small part of our costs for your team to come to Bolivia, but they do help out our budget in a significant way. If you have more questions, please contact our Executive Director at tulsadstephenson@yahoo.com.