Excerpt - Day Twelve

Still needs some work...

¨...In the midst of chaos and the civil wars occurring over union, energy and water reform, there was only one figure I found kept all the confusion occurring in a rare state of solidity. The indigenous women of this country, the Cholas or Cholitas as they are affectionately called, stand as a symbol of stability. Almost always firmly positioned, they go about their daily activities as if nothing could penetrate their rooted stance. As a visitor, one has a hard time not romanticizing these stoic figures as Mother Nature itself. So it wasn’t coincidental when I found out that the representation of earth and soil for the Aymara people is that of the female form; the Pacha Mama. It is with these two metaphors that I started to explore the Bolivian women as the centerpieces to this universal story.

Before Bolivia had Evo Morales the vast majority of the indigenous people had no direction. It was rare that, in the 400 years of the republic, Bolivia has had a leader that possessed the interest of 80% of the population, the Aymara and Quechua people. When I traveled to Bolivia for the second time in 2005, just as Morales was starting to run for president, you could feel electricity in the air. Just the presence of having this cocoa farmer with no political experience as a candidate serve to bring heated political, with the indigenous people in mind, to the forefront of this country’s debate. Being witness to the empowerment of the Bolivia’s indigenous population, it was clear that this period of time would serve as the appropriate backdrop to the story I needed to tell.

During this time, I also traveled throughout the country and saw much of the virgin landscape that was being scouted by international energy companies. Because of the country’s rich natural gas reserves, it was only a matter of time before Bolivia became one of the world’s leading energy deposits. Hearing stories of community leaders selling their town’s land deep in the rainforest or high up in the Antiplano, made me realize the despondency these people felt for a better life. Another side to Bolivia’s economic desperation, like many other third world countries, was to expand their tourist industry. Much like Machu Picchu in the 1950s, places like The Yungas (coca farming) and Copacabana (Isla Del Sol ) have more then tripled in population because their objectives to expand their tourist industry. This has often resulted in people readjusting or surrendering their traditions by assimilating as patrons to the global economy.¨