As soon as educational consultant Karim Morato was asked to speak at the first national homeschooling conference in Bolivia, she quickly told her husband about it.
Franz is Bolivian and was pleasantly surprised when Karim mentioned the conference in his country of origin. And even though he wasn’t planning to attend, he ended up leading a session for homeschooling dads.
The Morato’s Story
Karim (originally from Guatemala) and Franz have lived in the US since 1991, and decided to homeschool their children, Sarai, Caleb, and Elizabeth, before they were even born. So far they’ve been homeschooling for 17 years.
Sarai and Caleb have now graduated and are in college, and Elizabeth is still being homeschooled and is in 8th grade.
They live in Virginia, where Karim runs her own Spanish curriculum business for homeschooling parents (Spanish Educational Solutions). She also works as HSLDA’s bilingual educational consultant and Hispanic outreach coordinator. Franz works as a construction foreman.
So how did they get involved with the Bolivian homeschooling movement?
How It Started
It all started with Dorcas Ross and Dante Espinoza, homeschooling parents of three girls: Micaela, Lizbeth and Shirel.
For ten years, Dorcas and Dante have worked to develop homeschool leadership in different Bolivian departments (a Bolivian department is like American states). Flying all around the country, they spoke about homeschooling, sharing their expertise, encouraging families, and counseling leaders and families in departments from La Paz to Santa Cruz to Cochabamba.
“They have helped mobilize and unite the whole movement in Bolivia,” Franz said.
After solidifying leadership in different departments, Dorcas and Dante decided it was time to host the first national homeschooling event in their country.
“The conference had two goals,” Dante said. “To strengthen the movement at a national level, and to offer counseling to leaders from all departments.”
Months of planning culminated in the First National Encounter of Homeschooling Families conference last August in Cochabamba. Around 280 people attended the conference, including parents and children.
The three-day conference included informative sessions about curriculum providers, workshops given by educational experts, and sessions about the status and challenges of homeschooling in Bolivia, Latin America, and all over the world. They also had a variety of activities available for children and teens.
“It was great to see 13-year-old teens play with the younger kids, and come up with games,” Dante said. “We also had a very emotional reunion the last day with all leaders, in which we all felt a deep connection.”
From Homeschool Dad to Speaker
Karim has been in touch with Dorcas and Dante since 2022. Dorcas had heard Karim talk about high school planning at an international online homeschool conference, and reached out to her for advice. She wanted to prepare her daughter for college, so Karim met with Dorcas and Dante through a Zoom call and provided advice.
A year later, Dorcas asked Karim to speak on how to prepare a teen for a career path at the national homeschooling conference in Bolivia. Karim didn’t hesitate. As soon as she said yes, she worked to persuade Franz to join her. After a couple of conversations and travel agent support, he decided he’d go, and bring Elizabeth with them!
Karim, Franz and Elizabeth in Bolivia.
“We wanted her to come so she would learn more about Bolivia,” Franz said.
But the story doesn’t end here.
When Dorcas found out Franz was joining Karim, she asked if he would lead a session for Bolivian dads to share their stories. As a veteran homeschool leader, Franz had a wealth of experience with homeschooling.
So he agreed to the task. The session he led turned out to be one of the most inspiring and memorable moments of the conference for him.
An Intimate Conversation
Instead of giving a talk, Franz asked the twenty fathers who attended the session to speak about their homeschool journey.
There were all sorts of dads—those new to homeschooling, others who had been homeschooling for a couple of years, and others who were teaching their teens through high school at home.
But the experience differences didn’t prevent a deep connection from flourishing when each of them introduced themselves and talked about their time homeschooling.
Franz leading a session for dads at the national homeschooling conference in Bolivia.
“It felt like a one-on-one intimate conversation,” Franz said. “You meet someone with the same needs, goals, and concerns. Homeschooling creates that important connection.”
According to Dante, it was almost like a therapy session. “Each one of them opened their heart—which is difficult for men to do—and shared the same questions, challenges, and eagerness to find answers.”
“Us men…we don’t open our hearts much,” participant Edward Nina said. “But this session propelled us to share our feelings, fears, and failures.”
The connection was powerful because they were able to relate to each other’s story and feel hopeful.
“Hearing about the achievements and failures of other parents was very encouraging,” Edward added. “God can work through us to positively impact our children, despite our weaknesses and failures.”
Dante added that they all agreed legacy is what defines homeschooling. "We are a legacy for future generations," he said.
The session was so successful that the dads were even asking for extra time to extend it. They all had learned a valuable lesson: They were all on this journey together.